Distribution of HIV Infections Among Blood Donors in Abia State

A five-year retrospective study on the distribution of HIV infection among blood donors was conducted at the Nigerian Christian Hospital, Onicha Ngwa. A total of 8862 prospective blood donors (comprising of 6504 males and 2358 females) were screened for HIV using the ELISA technique. Nine hundred and thirty five (10.6%) were sero-positive for HIV for the review period. About 54% males and 46.6% females had positive test. Seventy-nine (8.2%) out of 2912 were positive for HIV in 1995. In 1996, 141 (11.5%) out of 1230 had infection, 142 (8.4%) out of 1696 in 1997 reacted positive to ELISA technique. Further in 1998 283 (11.9%) out of a total of 2370 screened had HIV infection, while 290 (10.9%) out of 2654 had detectable antibodies to HIV infection. In 1999, 89% of all the positive cases reached only to HIV-1; 1.6% reacted to HIV-1 and 2. Jnl of Medical Investigation and Practice Vol.2 2001: 38-4