PREVALENCE OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS ANTIBODIES IN BLOOD DONORS AT THE NATIONAL BLOOD TRANSFUSION CENTRE, NAIROBI

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in susceptible patients is associatedwith serious morbidity and a high mortality. Transmission of cytomegalovirus infectionthrough blood transfusion is markedly reduced by transfusion of CMV seronegativeblood products, or by transfusion of leucodepleted blood products.Objective: To determine the prevalence CMV IgG and IgM antibodies among blooddonors at the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), Nairobi.Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.Setting: Four hundred participants were recruited from blood donors at the NBTS andtesting was done at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) immunology laboratoriesand the NBTC.Main outcome measures: Social demographic data and the CMV serologic status forthe participants was determined and documented as being positive or negative forimmunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM). The age, gender, maritalstatus, education level and geographical area of residence of the participants weredocumented. Corresponding results of HIV, hepatitis B antigen, hepatitis C antibodyfrom the patients were obtained from the NBTS.Results: Majority of the blood donors recruited were male at 57.9%. Most blood donorswere aged 16-20 years (42.5%) and only 17.2% were above 30 years of age. Unmarriedblood donors, those with secondary school education and an income between Kshs5,000 (US$ 67)and KShs 50,000 (US$ 667) monthly were the majority at 78.5%, 54.8%and 66.1% respectively. Sexually active blood donors constituted 60.5% of the donorsrecruited. Positivity for transfusion transmissible infections (TTI) tested was 1.3%,0.3%, 2.3% and 1.0% for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), syphilis, hepatitisB and hepatitis C respectively. Anti- CMV IgG and IgM positivity was 97.0%,( 95%CI 96.45-97.53%), and 3.6% (95% CI 1.7-5.2%), respectively. There was no statisticaldifference between different ages, marital status, salary, individual’s sexuality in theprevalence of CMV antibodies. However females had a higher prevalence of CMVantibodies.Conclusion: There is a very high prevalence of cytomegalovirus antibodies amongblood donors at the NBTS, with virtually all blood donors having been exposed to thevirus. Since the CMV remains latent within leucocytes after infection inspite of theprescence of antibodies in seropositive individuals, leucoreduction of blood productsis recommended before transfusion to seronegative susceptible patients. In Kenya,susceptible groups of patients include very low birthweight babies, patients withacquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) due to human immunodeficiency virusinfections (HIV) patients, patients on myelosuppressive cancer therapy and recipientsof kidney transplants. Further studies are recomended to determine the prevalence ofCMV antibodies in these patients in order to establish the magnitude of the demandfor CMV safe blood