Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis, hepatitis B and C in blood donations in Namibia.

BMC Public Health

Department of Health Sciences, School of Health and Applied Sciences, Polytechnic of Namibia, Private Bag 13388, Windhoek, Namibia.

Published: May 2014

Background: Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTIs) such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), syphilis, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are infections which are common in some communities in Southern Africa. It is important to screen blood donations for these infections.

Methods: This is a retrospective study which involved reviewing of previous blood donation records for the year 2012 in Namibia. The records were analyzed to determine the prevalence of HIV, syphilis, Hepatitis B and C among blood donations with regard to gender, age and geographical region of the donors.

Results: The findings indicated a significantly low prevalence of HIV, syphilis, HBsAg and anti-Hepatitis C among the blood donations. A low infection rate of 1.3% by any of the four tested TTIs was found among the blood donations given by the donor population in Namibia in 2012.

Conclusion: The blood donations given by the donor population in Namibia has a low infection rate with the HIV, syphilis, HBsAg and anti-HCV. A strict screening regime must continue to be used as the infections are still present albeit in small numbers.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4012713PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-424DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

blood donations
24
hiv syphilis
16
syphilis hepatitis
12
human immunodeficiency
8
immunodeficiency virus
8
hepatitis blood
8
hepatitis virus
8
prevalence hiv
8
syphilis hbsag
8
low infection
8

Similar Publications

Seroprevalence of specific antibodies to Treponema pallidum in blood donors with DNA confirmation of seropositivity.

Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand)

January 2025

Swedish Board Member of General Surgery, Kurdistan Higher Council of Medical Specialties, Erbil, Iraq.

The rising global incidence of syphilis underscores the risk of transmission through blood transfusions. Treponema pallidum, the pathogen responsible for syphilis, represents a major public health challenge. Accurate detection is essential for controlling the disease, particularly in asymptomatic blood donors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

4-pyridone-3-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribonucleoside (4PYR) is a nicotinamide derivative, considered a new oncometabolite. 4PYR formation induced a cytotoxic effect on the endothelium. Elevated blood 4PYR concentration was observed in patients with cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The application of a temporary deferral when attempting to donate has a negative impact on retention. Little has been done to reduce the likelihood of a donor attending to donate, only to be found to be ineligible. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of pre-screening donors when making an appointment, to prevent in-center deferrals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Increasing syphilis infection rates are a concerning issue worldwide. Blood donation screening is an opportunity to monitor the burden of asymptomatic infections, providing information on contemporary factors associated with infection and public health insights into transmission.

Methods: Blood donations collected at five Brazilian blood centers between January 2020 and February 2022 were screened with treponemal or non-treponemal assays according to local protocols, followed by alternate Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA); samples with reactive or indeterminate results in the alternate ELISA were further tested with the rapid plasma reagin (RPR), and categorized as RPR-positive or RPR-negative.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Thalassemia is an inherited hematological disorder characterized by a decrease in the synthesis of or absence of one or more globin chains. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute viral hepatitis, constituting a major global health burden and emerging as a critical public health concern. HEV infection is mainly transmitted via the fecal-oral route; however, parenteral transmission through blood components has been reported in both developing and developed countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!