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Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study

Received: 14 March 2019     Accepted: 28 April 2019     Published: 19 September 2019
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Abstract

Blood transfusion is considered a life-saver in health care settings, but could potentially pose as a risk factor for transmission of life-threatening viral infections, including HIV, HBsAg, HCV and Syphilis infections. This study was carried out to find out the prevalence and trends of HIV and Syphilis infections among blood donors in the Northern Region of Ghana. Blood screening data of blood donors recorded in blood transfusion centers in the Northern region between 2011 and 2015 were collected and analyzed anonymously. Screening results for HIV and Syphils infections were sorted and analyzed from a total of 198,229 blood donors in the region within the period under consideration. Majority of the donors were female and aged between 20–39 years. The overall seroprevalence rates of HIV and Syphilis were 30.77% (7319) and 27.78% (4893) respectively. The highest seroprevalence was found for HIV followed by Syphilis. These infections were more prevalent in female donors. Highest seroprevalence for both HIV and Syphilis was observed among donors in their youthful ages, i.e. between 20 to 49 years, while Syphilis seroprevalence increased with age. There exists a decreasing trend of transfusion-transmissible viral infections (i.e. HIV and Syphilis) in blood donations. This indicates that the Ghana National Blood Service mandate of ensuring the safety of blood supply has been successful. Even though available statistics show that the prevalence rates of viral infections detected during blood donations has reduced drastically, there is still more to be done, especially using robust and efficient techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This, the researchers think could guarantee more safety blood for transfusion.

Published in World Journal of Public Health (Volume 4, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13
Page(s) 65-73
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Viral Infections, Transfusion, Syphilis, HIV, Seropositive, Blood Donors

References
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[2] ALGani FA. Prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV-1, 2 infections among blood donors in Prince Rashed Ben Al-Hassan Hospital in North Region of Jordan. Int J Biol Med Res. 2011; 2 (4): 912–6.
[3] Farshadpour F, Makvandi M, Samarbafzadeh AR, Jalalifar MA. Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes among blood donors in Ahvaz, Iran. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2010; 28 (1): 54–6. pmid: 20061766.
[4] Kafi-abad SA, Rezvan H, Abolghasemi H, Talebian A. Prevalence and trends of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus among blood donors in Iran, 2004 through 2007. Transfusion. 2009; 49 (10): 2214–20. pmid: 19527477.
[5] Kafi-abad SA, Rezvan H, Abolghasemi H. Trends in the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among Iranian blood donors, 1998–2007. Transfus Med. 2009; 19 (4): 189–94. pmid: 19708860.
[6] Khedmat H, Alavian SM, Amini M, Abolghasemi H, Hajibeigi B, Alaeddini F, et al. Trends in seroprevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, and syphilis infections in Iranian blood donors from 2003 to 2005. Hepat Mon. 2009; 9 (1): 24–8.
[7] Li C, Xiao X, Yin H, He M, Li J, Dai Y, et al. Prevalence and prevalence trends of transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors at four Chinese regional blood centers between 2000 and 2010. J Transl Med. 2012; 10: 176. pmid: 22929614.
[8] Mohammadali F, Pourfathollah AA. Changes in Frequency of HBV, HCV, HIV and Syphilis Infections among Blood Donors in Tehran Province 2005–2011. Arch Iran Med. 2014; 17 (9): 613–20. pmid: 25204477.
[9] Nwankwo E, Momodu I, Umar I, Musa B, Adeleke S. Seroprevalence of major blood-borne infections among blood donors in Kano, Nigeria. Turk J Med Sci. 2012; 42 (2): 337–41.
[10] Nwokeukwu HI, Nwabuko CO, Chuku A, Ajuogu E, Dorathy OA. Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and syphilis in blood donors in a tertiary health facility in southeastern Nigeria. Hematology and Leukemia. 2014; 2 (1): 4.
[11] Sethi B, Kumar S, Butola K, Mishra J, Kumar Y. Seroprevalence pattern among blood donors in a tertiary health care center. Internet Journal of Medical Update. 2014; 9 (1): 10–5.
[12] Shrestha AC, Ghimire P, Tiwari BR, Rajkarnikar M. Transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors in Kathmandu, Nepal. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2009; 3 (10): 794–7. pmid: 20009282.
[13] Song Y, Bian Y, Petzold M, Ung COL. Prevalence and trend of major transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors in Western China, 2005 through 2010. PloS one. 2014; 9 (4): e94528. pmid: 24714490.
[14] Taherkhani R, Farshadpour F. Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Iran. World J Gastroenterol. 2015; 21 (38):10790– 810. pmid: 26478671; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4600581.
[15] Elbjeirami WM, Arsheed NM, Al-Jedani HM, Elnagdy N, Hazem M, et al. (2015) Prevalence and Trends of HBV, HCV, and HIV Serological and NAT Markers and Profiles in Saudi Blood Donors. J Blood Disord Transfus 6:280. doi: 10.4172/2155-9864.1000280.
[16] Wang, J., Liu, J., Huang, Y., Yang, T., Yao, F., Dong, X., Wen, G., Bi, X., Zhao, M., Wen, X., Huang, M., Lü, Y., Ma, H., Yu, Q., Wright, D., Guo, N., Ness, P., Shan, H., National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II, International Component (2013). An analysis of risk factors for human immunodeficiency virus infection among Chinese blood donors. Transfusion, 53 (10 Pt 2), 2431-40.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Abdulmuizz Tikumah Muktar, Adadow Yidana, Michael Wombeogo, Enoch Weyori Weikam. (2019). Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study. World Journal of Public Health, 4(3), 65-73. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13

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    ACS Style

    Abdulmuizz Tikumah Muktar; Adadow Yidana; Michael Wombeogo; Enoch Weyori Weikam. Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study. World J. Public Health 2019, 4(3), 65-73. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13

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    AMA Style

    Abdulmuizz Tikumah Muktar, Adadow Yidana, Michael Wombeogo, Enoch Weyori Weikam. Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study. World J Public Health. 2019;4(3):65-73. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13,
      author = {Abdulmuizz Tikumah Muktar and Adadow Yidana and Michael Wombeogo and Enoch Weyori Weikam},
      title = {Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study},
      journal = {World Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3},
      pages = {65-73},
      doi = {10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20190403.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wjph.20190403.13},
      abstract = {Blood transfusion is considered a life-saver in health care settings, but could potentially pose as a risk factor for transmission of life-threatening viral infections, including HIV, HBsAg, HCV and Syphilis infections. This study was carried out to find out the prevalence and trends of HIV and Syphilis infections among blood donors in the Northern Region of Ghana. Blood screening data of blood donors recorded in blood transfusion centers in the Northern region between 2011 and 2015 were collected and analyzed anonymously. Screening results for HIV and Syphils infections were sorted and analyzed from a total of 198,229 blood donors in the region within the period under consideration. Majority of the donors were female and aged between 20–39 years. The overall seroprevalence rates of HIV and Syphilis were 30.77% (7319) and 27.78% (4893) respectively. The highest seroprevalence was found for HIV followed by Syphilis. These infections were more prevalent in female donors. Highest seroprevalence for both HIV and Syphilis was observed among donors in their youthful ages, i.e. between 20 to 49 years, while Syphilis seroprevalence increased with age. There exists a decreasing trend of transfusion-transmissible viral infections (i.e. HIV and Syphilis) in blood donations. This indicates that the Ghana National Blood Service mandate of ensuring the safety of blood supply has been successful. Even though available statistics show that the prevalence rates of viral infections detected during blood donations has reduced drastically, there is still more to be done, especially using robust and efficient techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This, the researchers think could guarantee more safety blood for transfusion.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence and Trends of HIV and Syphilis Among Blood Donors in the Northern Region of Ghana; A Five-year Retrospective Study
    AU  - Abdulmuizz Tikumah Muktar
    AU  - Adadow Yidana
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    JO  - World Journal of Public Health
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    AB  - Blood transfusion is considered a life-saver in health care settings, but could potentially pose as a risk factor for transmission of life-threatening viral infections, including HIV, HBsAg, HCV and Syphilis infections. This study was carried out to find out the prevalence and trends of HIV and Syphilis infections among blood donors in the Northern Region of Ghana. Blood screening data of blood donors recorded in blood transfusion centers in the Northern region between 2011 and 2015 were collected and analyzed anonymously. Screening results for HIV and Syphils infections were sorted and analyzed from a total of 198,229 blood donors in the region within the period under consideration. Majority of the donors were female and aged between 20–39 years. The overall seroprevalence rates of HIV and Syphilis were 30.77% (7319) and 27.78% (4893) respectively. The highest seroprevalence was found for HIV followed by Syphilis. These infections were more prevalent in female donors. Highest seroprevalence for both HIV and Syphilis was observed among donors in their youthful ages, i.e. between 20 to 49 years, while Syphilis seroprevalence increased with age. There exists a decreasing trend of transfusion-transmissible viral infections (i.e. HIV and Syphilis) in blood donations. This indicates that the Ghana National Blood Service mandate of ensuring the safety of blood supply has been successful. Even though available statistics show that the prevalence rates of viral infections detected during blood donations has reduced drastically, there is still more to be done, especially using robust and efficient techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This, the researchers think could guarantee more safety blood for transfusion.
    VL  - 4
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Author Information
  • Department of Public Health, School of Allied Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

  • Department of Community Health and Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

  • Department of Public Health, School of Allied Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

  • National Aids Control Programme, Ghana Health Services, Northern Region, Ghana

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