A nationwide retrospective study of the seroprevalence and risk factors of transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Blood transfusion's life-saving potential is often marred by the risks of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) from blood donors, for which sub-Saharan African countries record some of the highest burdens.

AIMS: We aimed to assess the seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV, and Treponema pallidum among blood donors in Nigeria, and determine the association of seropositivity with particular blood donor characteristics.

METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV, and Treponema pallidum among blood donors in 13 blood establishments in Nigeria's six geopolitical zones from January 2018 to December 2019 following screening with highly sensitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays. Data was collected from the country's web-based software District Health Information System, Version 2 and analysed using R Studio.

RESULTS

The overall TTI seroprevalence was 10.1%, and declined from 10.9% in 2018 to 9.4% in 2019. Male donors (AOR = 0.1; 95% CI: 0.1-0.2, p < 0.001), those aged 46-55 years (AOR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.7-0.9, p < 0.001), and first-time donors (AOR = 0.1, 95% CI: 0.10-0.12, p < 0.001) were less likely to be seropositive; whereas paid donors (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI: 2.1-2.6, p < 0.001) and mobile blood drive donors (AOR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.3-1.5, p < 0.001) were more likely to be seropositive.

CONCLUSION

The seroprevalence of TTIs in Nigerian blood donors is high, especially among females, paid donors, and those at mobile donation sites, emphasising the importance of targeted continuous population health education and quality donor selection towards enhancing blood safety.