Patterns of infections among blood donors in a tertiary care centre: a retrospective study.

Background: Transfusion-transmitted infections continue to be a threat to safe transfusion practices. We analysed the prevalence and patterns of co-infections among voluntary and replacement donors.

Methods: Blood donations collected over a 5-year period were studied for the type of donation (voluntary or replacement), number of seroreactive cases and the number, type and distribution of co-infections.

Results: Of the 42 439 units of blood collected over a 5-year period, 19 118 (45%) were from voluntary and 23 321 (55%) from replacement donors. There were 1603 seroreactive cases (3.8%). These included 250 with HIV (0.6%), 734 with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg; 1.7%), 337 with hepatitis C virus (HCV; 0.8%) and 282 (0.7%) with VDRL (Venereal Diseases Research Laboratory) reactivity. Twenty-three (0.05%) of these had > or = 2 seroreactive infections; 20 of these were in replacement donors and only 3 in voluntary donors and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.005). Among HIV seropositive donors, there were 4 seroreactive for syphilis and 5 for HBsAg. Among HIV seronegative donors, 5 were seroreactive for HBsAg and VDRL, 4 for HCV and VDRL, and 2 for HBsAg and HCV. One person was seroreactive for HIV, HBsAg and VDRL. The multiple infection rate showed a decreasing trend over the years.

Conclusion: Multiple infections pose a small but definite risk to the recipients of blood products. Voluntary donations are safer as compared with replacement ones and need to be encouraged.