Jo. Chikwem et al., PREVALENCE OF TRANSMISSIBLE BLOOD INFECTIONS AMONG BLOOD-DONORS AT THE UNIVERSITY-OF-MAIDUCURI-TEACHING-HOSPITAL, MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA, East African medical journal, 74(4), 1997, pp. 213-216
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.