EFFECTIVENESS OF MANDATORY TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASES SCREENING IN INDIANBLOOD-DONORS

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of transfusion t ransmitted diseases (TTDs) among local blood donors, the safety offere d by the ft,ur mandatory tests (for HIV, HBsAg, syphilis and malaria) and to assess alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as a surrogate test. A to tal of 313 blood donors were tested for HBsAg, hepatitis B core (HRc) antibody, hepatitis C (HCV) antibody, HIV antibody, and IgM antibody t o cytomegalovirus (CMV-lgM). The serum alanine aminotransferase levels were also done on each unit of blood. The prevalence of various marke rs was 7(2.2 %) for HBsAg, 57 (18.2 %) for anti HRc (total), 1 (0.3%) for anti HCV, 16 (5.1%) for anti CMV. None of the donors were positive for HIV, VDRL or malaria. ALT level was raised in 16.5 per cent of do nors and showed no correlation with hepatitis markers. ALT was not fou nd to he useful as a surrogate marker for routine screening of donors. Sensitive tests like ELISA and immunofluoresence for malaria antigen should be applied for screening for malaria. VDRL test mag be used to detect high risk donors rather than detection of syphilis when stored blood is used. HBsAg and HIV tests should be routinely done on every u nit of blood and anti HCV tests should he done regularly, if possible.