Objective: To determine the prevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV in healthyblood donors in Blood Transfusion Services, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur. Design: Prospective observationalstudy. Setting: Blood Transfusion Services, Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), affiliated with Quaid-e-Azam medicalCollege Bahawalpur. Period: From 1 January t st o 31st December 2005. Methods and Materials: All the personscoming for blood donations , at the BVH facility, were included. Clinically anaemic, ill, past history of jaundice and ageof less than 18 or more than 50 years were excluded. All the donors (27938) from various areas of Bahawalpur,Bahawalnagar, Lodhran, Vehari and Rahim Yar Khan districts, were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs)Antigen, hepatitis C antibody (Anti HCV) & Human Immuno-deficiency Virus Antibody (Anti-HIV)on sera by one StepTest Device. All the positives cases were confirmed by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay. Results: Out of total27938, 25420(91%) were male. Mean age was 28 years with age range 18-50. No HIV positive case was detected.HBV was 2.69%, slightly more than HCV, 2.52%. Males were significantly (p<0.02) more infected than females.Conclusion: Risk of transmission of viral hepatitis is a major problem of blood transfusion. Frequency of viral hepatitisin blood donors is higher in our area as compared to rest of the world. HIV infection is very low. Preventive strategiesinclude good blood transfusion services along with safe sex and other measures.
High affinity monoclonal antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) produced by somatic cell hybrids
