Prevalence of transmissible blood infections among blood donors at the University of Maiducuri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Before the advent of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), many countries of the world transfused blood without seriously considering the potential risks of transmission of infectious agents. Even after it was shown that the Human Immunodeficiency virus(HIV) could be transmitted through blood and blood products, many hospitals and clinics in Nigeria still continue to transfuse unscreened blood. This study was therefore initiated to highlight the risks of transmitting infectious agents through blood transfusion and the category of infectious agents which could be transfused in blood in this area. A total of 364 healthy blood donors were counselled, bled and screened for HIV-1, HIV-2, HBsAg, Treponema pallidum, Plasmodium falciparum and microfilaria. The results show that the three most common infections transmissible through blood transfusion are Hepatitis B(14.9%), HIV-1 (5.8%) and P.falciparum (4.1%). Thirteen of the 364 blood donors (3.6%) and antibodies to T. pallidum. There were no donors with HIV-2 or filarial infection. Infection of donors by hepatitis B virus (HBV), T. pallidum and HIV-1 was not significant dependent on promiscuity, polygamy, previous blood transfusion or local surgery. However, there was a significant difference between donors with no risk factors and those with risk factors with regard to seroprevalence to HBV, T. pallidum and HIV-1 (p = 0.0053). The results confirm that transfusion of unscreened blood carries severe risks of transmitting serious infectious agents and that is a need to enforce laws for transfusing blood in Nigeria. Meanwhile, in the absence of screening facilities, proper counselling of blood donors in order to ascertain their risk behaviour should be used to select donors and reduce this risk.