Seroprevalence of Blood Borne Pathogens Among Healthy Blood Donors in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract: Seropositivity for Hepatitis B virus (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Human Immune Deciency 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 nd out the seroprevalence of blood borne pathogens among the healthy blood donors in Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: The sample size of 1674 healthy 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 blood donors for testing of HBsAg, HIV, HCV and syphilis through Immuno Chroma Tography (ICT) method. Results: 77out of total 1674 blood donors were found positive for different blood borne diseases. Eighteen (23.38%) were found positive for HBsAg, 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 signicantly 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. Conclusions: The stringent selection and complete screening of donor's blood using standard methods (goodquality ICT test kits), which were highly suggested to make sure the safety of blood for the recipient as well as donor. Keywords: Seropositivitsy, Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Human immune deciency virus (HIV), Syphilis