The seroepidemiology and risk factors of West Nile virus infection in blood donors of Fars province, southwest of Iran

Aim: To evaluate the frequency of West Nile virus (WNV) in blood donors of the blood transfusion center of Fars province, Iran. Materials & methods: A total of 337 participants referred for blood donation to Fars blood centers were included. The presence of anti-WNV antibodies was analyzed using the WNV IgG ELISA kit. Results: Out of all participants, 76 (22.6%) were positive for anti-WNV IgG antibodies. Our results also showed that the frequency of WNV was associated with the age, educational level, job and city of residency of participants (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results indicated the high frequency of WNV seropositivity among blood donors in southwest Iran. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to establish an integrated surveillance system for monitoring WNV infection in Iran.

Haplotype Network Analysis and Phylogenetic Tree Construction of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Isolated from Tuban, Indonesia

This study aimed to analyzed the haplotype network and constructed the phylogenetic tree topology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Tuban, Indonesia and those from other countries, to determine the visualize genealogical relationship and inference about gene connected. The HCV isolates were collected from blood transfusion center of Tuban, East Java, Indonesia in 2015 and as a comparison, also the sequences of HCV isolates were retrieved from the GenBank®, National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI), USA database. To constructed of distribution map was performed through median joining analysis using Haplotype Network v4.6, whereas to constructed and phylogenetic model analyses were constructed based on the NS5B and 5’UTR regions using MEGA X, maximum-likelihood method based on the Tamura-Nei model. In the HCV NS5B region haplotype network showed high haplotype diversity (Hd=1.00) in 22 haplotypes. Based on phylogenetic analysis 3 sample isolates Tuban (BDT-55-p23, BDT-79-p23 and BDT-112-p23) were identified one group and closely related to isolates from Indonesia. However, isolates Tuban also have the same sequence characters as the isolates from Thailand. It was also confirmed in haplotype network that the three isolates are connected to each other. The identification of HCV genotypes circulating in blood donors in the Tuban of East Java confirmed were closely related to HCV isolates from Indonesia and Thailand. Therefore, this result might contribute in a better medical management towards HCV.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Type 1 in Donors of the National Blood Transfusion Center of Libreville (Gabon)

Background: Transmission of HIV through blood transfusion remains a public health problem, particularly in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, no study has determined the epidemiological data regarding HIV-1 infection in Gabonese blood donors. The objective of this study is to assess the seroprevalence of HIV-1 and the risk factors associated with infection in donors from the National Blood Transfusion Center in Libreville (Gabon). Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out from June to August 2020 in 3669 persons donating blood at the National Blood Transfusion Center (NBTC). The ELISA technique (Evolis®, BioRad), the chemiluminescence technique (Cobas® e601, Roche), and the SD Bioline® HIV 1/2 test (Standard Diagnostics. Inc) were used for the detection of anti-HIV-1/2 antibodies and P24 antigen in donor plasma. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21.0, with p˂.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The seropositivity rate HIV-1 was 0.8% (30/3669) (95% CI: 0.5; 1.1). The study was composed of 79.4% men and 20.6% women. The most representative age group was of 25-34 years with 54.5%. The seropositivity of men, women, and unrelated voluntary donors was 0.7%, 1.2%, and 1.0%, respectively. The risk factors such as the first blood donation (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 0.1 [0.0 ;0.4], P= .002), multiple sexual partners (AOR = 6.2 [2.2;17.2], P= .001), primary educational level (AOR = 10.1 [1.4;75], P = .024), and dental care (AOR = 3.6 [1.2;11], P = .024) were significantly associated with HIV infection. About 0.14% of the patients had co-infection. Conclusion: In the Gabonese context, about one out of a hundred blood donors are HIV-infected. These carriers of HIV infection in the blood banks are mainly new donors with multiple sexual partners, limited education, and poor dental care.

Syphilis Seroprevalence among Blood Donors at the Chad National Blood Transfusion Center in N’Djamena

This involves evaluating the risk of syphilis transfusion in blood donors having a reaction to the group antigen and confirming positive or negative by the treponemal test. From August 2019 to August 2020, an observational study of syphilitic markers was conducted with blood donors (replacement families and volunteers non-remunerated) at the Center National de Transfusion Sanguine de N’Djamena. The donors included were also tested negative for the markers (HBsAg, Ab anti HCV, Ag /Ab HIV) according to standard methods of clinical microbiology. During one year, 24587 donors were identified of which 654 (2.65%) were confirmed positive by the treponemal test. Different positive rates of syphilis were determined in family replacement donors (94%), voluntary non-remunerated donors (6.12%), male (86%) and female (13%) respectively. This study determined a level of specific antigen for syphilis in a study population that reacted positively to the non-treponemal test. In view of this result, we recommend screening with the treponemal test in any blood donor having a reaction with a non-treponemal test in order to minimize the residual risk of transmission of syphilis among blood donors in Chad.

Blood Donation Tested by Coronavirus Pandemy 2019 (Covid-19) in Cote d’Ivoire

The 2019 coronavirus pandemic (covid-19), which spread rapidly around the world, has disrupted all organizations and led to a decline in their productivity. Their reorganization was therefore essential. The purpose of this study was to analyze the resilience strategies adopted by the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) to reverse the trend of population participation. Thus, based on the qualitative approach centered on free interviews conducted with 30 people including 27 managers of Blood Transfusion Establishments (Blood Transfusion Center (BTC), Blood Transfusion Antenna (BTA) and Sampling Site (SS)), 2 heads of department (Communication and Coordination of services), the chairman of the scientific advisory council and a direct observation, of the theory of resilience and the systemic method, the analysis of the data indicates that the resilience strategies adopted by the NBTS are four: the dynamic communication on blood donation, rational blood using, the reorganization of blood collections in fixed site (Sundays and extension of the collection time) and the reorganization of mobile collections (fragmentation of mobile collection activities on site).

Transfusion-Transmitted Infections and associated risk factors at the Northern Zone Blood Transfusion Center in Tanzania: A study of blood donors between 2017 and 2019

Background Blood transfusion saves many people every year that would otherwise have died. The present study aimed to provide an update and insightful information regarding prevalence of the common Transfusion-Transmitted Infections (TTIs) and associated factors among blood donors in Tanzania. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving retrospectively collected data of blood donors from the Tanzania Northern Zone Blood Transfusion Center between 2017 and 2019. Descriptive statistics were performed to describe characteristics of the blood donors. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine association between prevalence of TTIs and socio-demographic factors. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 101, 616 blood donors were included in the present study of which 85,053(83.7%) were males while 16,563 (16.3%) were females. Of all participants, the majority 45,400 (44.7%) were aged between 18 and 25 years; 79,582 (78.3%) were voluntary non-remunerated donors while 22,034 (21.7%) were replacement donors. The vast majority of them 99,626 (98%) were first time blood donors while 1990 (2%) were multiple donors. The overall prevalence of TTIs was 10.1% (10,226 out of 101,616) of which the leading was HBV accounting for 5.1% (5,264 out of 101,616). Being a replacement donor was associated with all the four types of TTIs: HIV (AOR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.10–1.35), HBV (AOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.27–1.44), HCV (AOR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.12–1.46), and syphilis (AOR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.20–1.48). Conclusions Our study has demonstrated that Tanzania has relatively high prevalence of TTIs compared to some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. HBV infection seems to be the most common infection among blood donors and replacement blood donors are at a higher risk of harboring the commonest TTIs among blood donors.

Clean Blood: Transfusion Transmitted Infection days are not over

Objective: Blood transfusion saves millions of lives but there is always a potential risk of transmission of blood borne infections from the donor to the recipient if the blood is not thoroughly screened. A high seroprevalence of transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) in donated blood remains the blood safety issue in Pakistan. This study was aimed to determine the frequency of TTIs (Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), syphilis and malaria) among blood donors. Methods: Data records of all registered blood donors (n=120,968) during 2008-2019, at blood transfusion center in the tertiary care hospital were assessed. Frequency of the seropositive donors for HIV, HCV, HBV, syphilis and malaria was analyzed. Results: Donors were predominately males (99%) with age groups ranging from 25-65 years. HCV, syphilis and malaria positive cases were mostly in the age range of 26-35 years. Most of the donors (81.1%) were residents of Islamabad. The most prevalent infection among the screened blood donors was HCV (1.52% with 95% CI 0.423-0.661) followed by syphilis (0.85% with 95% CI1.149-1.432). HCV and syphilis were most frequently observed in blood group B positive patients while HIV was common in O positive patients. The frequency of co-infection of syphilis with HCV and HIV was 0.02% and 0.01% respectively. Conclusion: Among males, the most prevalent TTI infection was HCV followed by HIV; the latter is on the rise. However, HCV and syphilis are the most frequent co-infections. So, TTIs days are not over.