Transfusion Transmitted Infections in Blood Donors of Pakistan Red Crescent Lahore: A Mixed Method Study

Abstract

Background: According to Punjab Blood Transfusion Authority, blood donors are screened for five “Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTIs). But lack of adequate screening methods threatens the rapid spread of TTIs. Objective: This study aimed at adding to the surveillance data about TTIs in Pakistan and explored blood banking phenomenon to find workable ways for minimizing their spread. Methods: It was a mixed method study, with retrospective cross-sectional design to find out the frequency of TTIs amidst the blood donors of “Pakistan Red Crescent Punjab” during 2015 to 2019, and with phenomenological design to explore reasons for any changes in the trends of TTIs. Records were analysed for descriptive statistics of the five TTIs, and reasons for the observed changes in the trends were explored through semi-structured interviews from the blood bank’s managers. The qualitative data was analysed by deductive thematic analysis. Results: Among 6380 blood donors, 2.19% (n=140) were positive for at least one of five TTIs. Out of total donors, 1.12 % (n= 72) were HCV positive, 0.83 % (n= 53) HBV positive, 0.2 % (n= 13) Syphilis positive, and 0.03% (n = 2) HIV positive, whereas none was positive for Malaria. 61.34% (n= 3914) of donors were males, and 38.65% (n= 2466) were females. Of the total, 86.52% (n= 5520) were mobile blood camp donors, and 13.47% (n= 860) were walk-in donors. The reasons for the observed increasing number of Syphilis cases and other observed trends were found to be due to differences in sensitivity of screening method used and other blood bank processes like Donor recruitment. Conclusion: TTI prevalence among donors of said blood bank in private sector is more in male donors in comparison to female ones and is more in “mobile blood camp donors” than in “walk-in donors”.