SEROPREVALENCE OF TRANSFUSION TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AMONG THE BLOOD DONORS AND THE TRENDS OF TTI IN LAST THREE YEARS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL IN DURGAPUR

BACKGROUND \nTransfusion of blood and/or its components is a life saving measure but at the same time it has life threatening hazards also \nand with every unit of blood, there is 1% chance of transfusion- associated problems including transfusion- transmitted diseases. \nAmongst the blood transfusion complications, transmission of certain infections (TTIs) like HIV, Hepatitis B & C, Syphilis, Malaria \nare most significant for the long-term detrimental side effects. Blood transfusion services (BTS) is an integral and indispensable \npart of the healthcare system. As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Government of India) under \nThe Drug and Cosmetic Act, 1945 (amended from time to time), all the blood donations are to be screened against the five \nmajor infections namely HIV, HBV, HCV, Syphilis and Malaria. \nThe objectives of this study were- 1) to assess the seroprevalence of TTI s. 2) yearly comparison of the trends of Transfusion \ntransmitted infections among voluntary and replacement donors. 3) implementing strategies for prevention of these infections \nso as to ensure safe blood to the recipients. \nMATERIALS AND METHODS \nThis was a record based observational study from April 2015 to March 2018. Data regarding the screening-test results, type of \ndonors and demographic data were collected from the blood bank register. \nStudy Design- Record based observational study. \nRESULTS \nTotal TTI positivity was found to be 2%, with majority of replacement donors. In our study we found the overall prevalence of \nHIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis were 0.14, 0.45, 0.66, 0.72% respectively with a solitary case of malaria. \nCONCLUSION \nMore and more voluntary blood donors are needed which can be done by public awareness programmes, blood donation camps, \nrestriction of donation by professional donors. With the advent of nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAT), western countries \nhave decreased the risk of TTI to a major extent. But the cost-effectiveness of NAT is poor. Increasing prevalence of syphilis in \nour area shows that sexually transmitted infections are widespread in developing countries and constitute a major public health \nproblem. \n