Prevalence and Trends of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Viruses among Blood Donors in Islamabad, Pakistan 2005-2013

Abstract

Background: Pakistan is a developing country of 190 million people with increased burden of infectious diseases. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are the most important agents responsible for transfusion transmitted viral infections. Blood donors are considered as the healthiest population of a community and screening of HBV, HCV & HIV in blood donors will reflect the true prevalence of these infections in a population. Material and Methods: The study was conducted from July 2005 to July 2013 at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan. 160,376 blood donors from the age 18 years to 60 years were enrolled in this study. Study was approved by the ethical review committee of PIMS hospital. All the samples were screened for Hepatitis B virus surface Antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV and anti-HIV by fourth generation ELISA. Statistical analyses were carried out by using SPS software version 17. Results: Among 160,376 donors, 157,920 (98.47%) were replacement donors. The overall seroprevalence of (HBVsAg), anti-HCV and anti-HIV among blood donors were 2.35%, 3.26% & 0.017% respectively. The prevalence of HBV and HCV co-infection was 0.084%. Conclusion: The prevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency viruses are high in blood donors and should not be acceptable. There is a need to educate masses to increase the number of voluntary donors to meet the country’s requirement of blood donation.