POST-TRANSFUSION INFECTIONS IN SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA: CO-INFECTION OF HIV/HCV AMONG BLOOD DONORS IN ABAKALIKI URBAN.

• Main Authors: Ogbodo SO, Chukwurah EF
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Enugu, Nigeria. 2017-06-01
• Series: Journal of Experimental Research
• Online Access: http://www.er-journal.com/papers/Ogbodo SO_June_2017_1-6.pdf

One of the major problems in transfusion medical practice in the developing countries is the incidences of transfusion transmissible infections, especially viral infections. Some of these viral infections share similar transmission pathways, making co-infections of these viruses a possibility. We investigated the possible co-infection of two viral infections-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1,490 blood donors in a Teaching Hospital in a south-eastern state of Nigeria. This number was made up of 1384(92.9%) males and 106(7.1%) females. Antibodies to these viruses were detected using ELISA methods. Our results showed that 12(0.81%), 9(0.60%), and 2(0.13%) were positive for HIV, HCV, and both HIV and HCV respectively. Greater percentage of females than males were positive for both HIV and HCV (2.8% and 0.65% for HIV and 2.8% and 0.43% for HCV) while age group 21-30 showed highest frequency (38.5%). We advocate for wider mandatory pre-screening of blood donors, increased public health education and enlightenment on modes of transmission of these viral infections, as well as counseling of donors before screening.