Burden of transfusion transmissible viral infections among blood donors at a tertiary care referral teaching hospital in South India

Background: Blood serves as a vehicle for transmission of blood-borne pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of these transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) in blood donors. Methods: All blood donors presenting to the blood bank at our tertiary care teaching hospital were screened for HIV,HBV and HCV by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: During the period January to December 2014, 9958 blood donors were screened for viral markers. The prevalence of HIV, HBsAg and HCV was 0.36%, 1.67%, and 0.56% respectively. Conclusions: Although multiple critical steps are taken to minimize the risk of infection from transfusion of blood or blood products, this risk can never be entirely eliminated. Stringent donor selection, proper counseling and deferral/ self exclusion may reduce the seroreactivity in donated blood and wastage of resources.