Seroprevalence of blood borne pathogens among healthy blood donors in Lahore, Pakistan

Seropositivity for Hepatitis B virus (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Human Immune Deficiency virus (HIV) and Syphilis are of the highest public health concern. Transfusion of contaminated blood is one of the major causes of spread of blood borne diseases. Objective: To find out the seroprevalence of blood borne pathogens among the healthy blood donors in Lahore, Pakistan. Method: The sample size was of 1674 healthy blood donors. The selection of blood donors was based upon pre-established criteria of body weight, hemoglobin and interviewing about their previous medical and donation history. Venous blood was collected from each blood donor for testing of HBsAg, HIV, HCV and syphilis through Immunochromatography (ICT) method. Results: Seventy-seven (77) out of total 1674 blood donors were found positive for different blood borne diseases. Eighteen (23.38%) out of total 77 were found positive for HBsAg, followed by 38 (49%) for HCV, 2 (2.6%) for HIV and 19 (25%) for syphilis. Blood group A+ was observed the most prevalent donors and the overall incidence of blood borne pathogens was found significantly high in this blood group. The prevalence of HCV was high (31.6%) between the age group of 26-33 years, whereas the incidence of Syphilis (47.4%) and HBsAg (61.1%) were considerably high between the 18-25 years of ages. Results indicated the overall 4.6% prevalence of different infectious diseases with varying frequency among healthy blood donors and statistically there was no association of infectious diseases found with blood groups. Conclusion: The stringent selection and complete screening of donor’s blood using standard methods (good quality ICT test kits), which were highly suggested to make sure the safety of blood for the recipient as well as donor. Seropositivity for Hepatitis B virus (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Human Immune Deficiency virus (HIV) and Syphilis are of the highest public health concern. Transfusion of contaminated blood is one of the major causes of spread of blood borne diseases. Objective: To find out the seroprevalence of blood borne pathogens among the healthy blood donors in Lahore, Pakistan. Method: The sample size was of 1674 healthy blood donors. The selection of blood donors was based upon pre-established criteria of body weight, hemoglobin and interviewing about their previous medical and donation history. Venous blood was collected from each blood donor for testing of HBsAg, HIV, HCV and syphilis through Immunochromatography (ICT) method. Results: Seventy-seven (77) out of total 1674 blood donors were found positive for different blood borne diseases. Eighteen (23.38%) out of total 77 were found positive for HBsAg, followed by 38 (49%) for HCV, 2 (2.6%) for HIV and 19 (25%) for syphilis. Blood group A+ was observed the most prevalent donors and the overall incidence of blood borne pathogens was found significantly high in this blood group. The prevalence of HCV was high (31.6%) between the age group of 26-33 years, whereas the incidence of Syphilis (47.4%) and HBsAg (61.1%) were considerably high between the 18-25 years of ages. Results indicated the overall 4.6% prevalence of different infectious diseases with varying frequency among healthy blood donors and statistically there was no association of infectious diseases found with blood groups. Conclusion: The stringent selection and complete screening of donor’s blood using standard methods (good quality ICT test kits), which were highly suggested to make sure the safety of blood for the recipient as well as donor