Transfusion Transmitted Infections in Patients with Haemophilia, a Study from Western Rajasthan, India

Introduction: Haemophilia is one of the predominant congenital coagulation disorder and a disease without ethnic or geographic limitations with incidence approximately 20 per 100 000 male births. Haemophilic patients are in regular need of blood and blood products and prone to risk of acquiring infections such as hepatitis B, C (HBV, HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Materials and methods: In this descriptive study, 98 haemophilic patients were selected for screening of HIV I and II, HBV, and HCV through the rapid immunochromatographic test method. Positive cases were confirmed by third generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: In this study, prevalence of hepatitis B among haemophilia patient was zero and prevalence of hepatitis C and HIV was 1.02% each. Conclusion: Prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections is much lower in this study than previous studies. The use of advanced methods, more sensitive tests, and virally inactivated factor concentrates might contribute to this reduction of viral infections in these patients.