A Three-Year Retrospective Study on The Prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV Among Blood Donors At The University Of Gondar Hospital Blood Bank, North West Ethiopia

Background: Although life saving, the use of blood can also lead to serious unwanted effects which may be immunological (transfusion reaction), as well as transmission of blood transmissible infections (TTI), such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV infection among blood donors at the University of Gondar Hospital Blood Bank.

Methods: A retrospective blood donors' registration-book-based study was conducted in the University of Gondar Hospital Blood Bank. All blood-donors donated blood between July, 2005 and December, 2007 was included in the study. Data was collected from blood donors’ registration book and analyzed using the SPSS version 13 computer software.

Results: Between 2005 and 2007, 4842 blood donors were screened for HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti- HIV using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The prevalence was 4%, 0.9%, and 3.5% for HBV, HCV, and HIV, respectively. Co-infection prevalence was 0.3%, 0.1%, and 0.0% for HBV & HIV, HCV & HIV and HBV & HCV, respectively. The prevalence of disease markers among replacement blood donors was 4% for HBV, 3.6% for HIV and 0.9% for HCV while the prevalence among volunteer blood donors was 3.1% for HBV, 2.6% for HIV and 1% for HCV. Eight percent of the blood donors were positive for at least one of the three disease markers. The highest prevalence of HBV and HCV was observed among males compared to females (OR=2.08 and 3.3, respectively). Unlike the hepatitis virus markers, HIV prevalence was higher among females compared to males (OR=1.23).

Conclusions: The prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV among blood donors, though lower than previous studies made in Gondar and other studies in the country, is still significant. So, screening blood donors for HBV and HCV along with HIV should get attention in blood banks throughout the country. Replacement blood donation needs to be changed by voluntary blood donation system, since replacement blood donation encourages commercial blood donation.