BIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF INFECTIOUS AGENTS AMONG MULTI-TRANSFUSED PATIENTS IN ALBANIA

Control of blood for HIV and other infectious agents in Albania is mandatory by constitutional law. Individuals receiving multiple transfusions as well as other vulnerable groups are routinely checked for the presence of infectious agents. The aim is to estimate the prevalence and the epidemiological pattern of infectious agents among multi-transfused patients. Blood specimens were collected from patients receiving multiple transfusions in units of hemodyalisis and oncohematology in several districts of the country over the period 2006-2008. All specimens were tested for viral hepatitis B and C, and HIV using ELISA method. In total, 642 patients were involved in the surveillance of patients receiving multiple transfusions during the period 2006-2010. The mean age of patients was 31.2 ± 19.8 years, with a range 1 to 78 years and a median 27 years. 260 (56%) of the patients were male and 282 (44%) women. Most of patients belong to agegroup 10-19 years (25%). During the year 2006 46 (34.1%) out of 135 patients suffering from thalassemia tested positive for infectious agents, during 2008 113 (31.5%) out of 359 new patients and during 2010 97 (65.5%) out of 148 new patients tested positive for infectious agents presenting a significant upward trend of infected patients, (p<0.01). Transfusion safety begins with healthy donors. A fundamental part of preventing tranfusion transmitted infections (TTI) is to notify and counsel reactive donors.