PREVALENCE OF TRANSMISSIBLE BLOOD INFECTIONS AMONG BLOOD-DONORS AT THE UNIVERSITY-OF-MAIDUCURI-TEACHING-HOSPITAL, MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA

Before the advent of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS), ma ny countries of the world transfuesd blood without seriously consideri ng the potential risks of transmission of infectious agents, Even afte r it was shown that the Human Immunodeficiency virus(HIV) could be tra nsmitted through blood and blood products, many hospitals and clinics in Nigeria still continue to transfuse unscreened blood, This study wa s therefore initiated to highlight the risks of transmitting infectiou s agents through blood transfusion and the category of infectious agen ts which could be transfused in blood in this area, A total of 364 hea lthy bloood donors were counselled, bled and screened for HIV-1, HIV-2 , HBsAg, Treponema pallidum, Plasmodium falciparum and microfilaria, T he results show that the three most common infections transmissible th rough blood transfussion are Hepatitis B (14.9%), HIV-1 (5.8%) and P, falciparum(4.1%). Thirteen of the 364 blood donors (3.6%) and antibodi es to T, pallidum, There were no donors with HIV-2 or filarial infecti on, Infection of donors by hepatitis B virus (HBV), T, pallidum and HI V-1 was not significant depedent on promiscuity, polygamy, previous bl ood transfussion or local surgery, However, there was a significant di fference between donors with no risk factors and those with risk facto rs with regard to seroprevalence to HBV, T, pallidum and HIV-1 (p=0.00 53). The results confirm that transfusion of unscreended blood carries severe risks of transmitting serious infectious agents and that there is a need to enforce laws for tranfusing blood in Nigeria, Meanwhile, in the absence of screening facilities, proper counselling of blood d onors in order to ascertain their risk behaviour should be used to sel ect donors and reduce this risk.