Prevalence and Factors Associated with transfusion-transmissible infections among blood donors in Arua regional blood bank, Uganda
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Date
2024-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Springer Nature B.V
Abstract
Background -Blood transfusion services play a very key role in modern health care service delivery. About
118.5 million blood donations were collected globally in 2022. However, about 1.6 million units of blood are
destroyed annually due to transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs). There is a very high risk of TTIs through donated
blood to recipients if safe transfusion practices are not observed. This study determined the prevalence and factors
associated with TTIs among blood donors in Arua regional blood bank, Uganda.
Methods -This study was a retrospective cross-sectional design that involved a review of a random sample of 1370
blood donors registered between January 1st, 2018 and December 31st, 2019 at Arua regional blood bank, Uganda.
Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the blood donors. The binary logistic regression was
used to determine the factors associated with TTIs.
Results -The majority of the blood donors were male (80.1%), and the median donor age was 23 years (IQR=8 years).
The overall prevalence of TTIs was found to be 13.8% (95%CI: 12.0-15.6%), with specific prevalences of 1.9% for HIV,
4.1% for HBV, 6.6% for HCV and 2.8% for treponema pallidum. Male sex (AOR=2.10, 95%CI: 1.32–3.36, p-value=0.002)
and lapsed donor type compared to new donor type (AOR=0.34, 95%CI: 0.13–0.87, p-value=0.025) were found to be
associated with TTIs.
Conclusion -The prevalence of TTIs among blood donors of West Nile region, Uganda was found to be significantly
high, which implies a high burden of TTIs in the general population. Hence, there is need to implement a more
stringent donor screening process to ensure selection of risk-free donors, with extra emphasis on male and new
blood donors. Additionally, sensitization of blood donors on risky behaviors and self-deferral will reduce the risk of
donating infected blood to the recipients.
Keywords -Blood donor, Voluntary donor, Transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs), Seropositive blood donor
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Citation
Cwinyaai, Norman, Denis Opio, Henry Kajumbula, et al. 'Prevalence and Factors Associated with Transfusion-Transmissible Infections among Blood Donors in Arua Regional Blood Bank, Uganda', BMC Infectious Diseases, vol. 24/no. 1, (2024), pp. 926.