European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Blood transfusion is an important mode of transmission of infections to recipients. It is of utmost importance to know about the prevalence of various TTIs (transfusion transmitted infections) among blood donors. The aim of the study is to analyze the seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilitic infections in the pre-transfusion blood which will help in taking measures to prevent the transmission of infections.
Material and Method: A retrospective study was carried out over a period of 04 years from January 2018 to December 2021. Serum samples were tested for P24 antigen and antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Type 1 and 2, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis c virus (HCV) using ELISA with the 3rd and 4th generation kits while testing for syphilis was done using Rapid plasma reagin test.
Results: Out of total 35,174 donors, 6,168(17.54%) were replacement donors and 29,006(82.46%) were voluntary donors while majority of donors were male (92.97%). The seroprevalence of HIV was 0.1% in the total blood donors. No female donor was found to be positive for HIV and Syphilis. The low seropositivity among blood donors is attributed to pre-donation counseling in donor selection. The seroprevalence of HBV, HCV and syphilis was 0.54%, 0.04% and 0.04% respectively.
Conclusion: All blood donations should be screened for TTIs to ensure safe blood transfusion to the recipients. With the implementation of strict selection criteria and use of sensitive screening tests, it is possible to decrease the incidence of TTIs among recipients of blood and various blood products.

Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) or known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
(KSHV) is the etiologic agent for all clinic-epidemiological forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS).
Many studies have been documented that blood transfusion plays an important role in
HHV-8 transmission. This study was prepared to determine the frequency of HHV-8
antibodies among blood donors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on ninety blood
donors who attended the Iraqi National Centre for Blood Transfusion in February 2019 to
detect HHV-8 IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunoassay method. Anti-HHV8-
IgG were detected in 78 out of 90 (86.6%) serum samples. A significant association has
been found between anti-HHV-8 detection and associated risk factors in blood donors such
as sexual relationships (legal and illegal), occupation, surgical and dental operations, blood
transfusion, cupping, tattooing, smoking and numbers of blood donation. Our results
confirmed that a high percentage of HHV8-IgG among blood donors may indicate an
increased threat to HHV-8 infection via blood transfusion.