Abstract:
BACKGROUND: According to the latest Tanzanian National AIDS Control Programme
(NACP) report a total of 147,271 individuals donated blood during the year 2002.
However, blood safety remains an issue of major concern in transfusion medicine
in Tanzania where national blood transfusion services and policies, appropriate
infrastructure, trained personnel and financial resources are inadequate. Most of
the donated blood is screened for HIV alone.
METHODS: We determined among blood donors at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH),
the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus
(HCV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and syphilis by donor type, sex and
age and to determine association, if any, in the occurrence of the pathogens. The
sample included 1599 consecutive donors, 1424(89.1%) males and 175 (10.9%)
females, who donated blood between April 2004 and May, 2005. Most of them 1125
(70.4%) were replacement donors and a few 474 (29.6%) voluntary donors. Their age
(in years) ranged from 16 to 69, and most (72.2%) were between 20-39 years.
RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty four (15.9%) of the donated blood had serological
evidence of infection with at least one pathogen and 28 (1.8%) had multiple
infections. The current seroprevalence of HIV, HBsAg, HCV and syphilis among
blood donors at MNH in Dar es Salaam was found to be 3.8%, 8.8%, 1.5% and 4.7%,
respectively. Respective seroprevalences among HIV seronegative blood donors were
8.7% for HBV, 1.6% for HCV and 4.6% for syphilis. The differences in the
prevalence of HIV and syphilis infections between replacement and voluntary
donors were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Syphilis was the only infection
that occurred more frequently among HIV infected (12.1%) than non-infected (4.6%)
blood donors (P < 0.05), and whose prevalence increased with age (X2 = 58.5 df =
5, P < 0.001). There were no significant sex differences in the occurrence of
pathogens. Finally, there were significant associations in the occurrence of
HBsAg and syphilis (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1.-4.2) and HIV and syphilis (OR = 2.2,
95% CI 1.0-5.3).
CONCLUSION: The high (15.9%) seroprevalence of blood-borne infections in blood
donated at MNH calls for routine screening of blood donors for HBV, HCV, HIV and
syphilis and for strict selection criteria of donors, with emphasis on getting
young voluntary donors and for establishment of strict guidelines for blood
transfusions.
