Prevalence and trends of hepatitis b and c among blood donors in all Blood Donors Centers in the Northern Region of Ghana: A five-year retrospective study

Abstract

Blood transfusion is considered a life-saver in health care settings, but could potentially pose as a risk factor for transmission of  life- threatening viral infections, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBsAg), Hepatitis C  Virus (HCV) and  Syphilis infections. This study was carried out to assess the prevalence and trends of HBsAg and HCV  infections among blood donors in  the Northern Region of Ghana. The study was a retrospective one. Therefore data of blood  donors recorded in all three blood  transfusion centers in the Northern region from 2011 to 2015 were analyzed in an anonymous way with respect to the results of  serological screening for HBsAg and HCV infections. SPSS was used in the analysis of  data, where chi-square and test for association was  done. Overall, 123,142 donors were screened for these viral infections. Majority of the donors who were screened for HBsAg were  males representing 50.1% whereas females represented 50.1%. Of those  who were screened for HCV, 40.1 4% were males and 61.0%  were females. The overall sero-prevalence of HBsAg and HCV  were 31.0 % (7319) and 28.0 % (4893) respectively. These infections were  more prevalent in male donors (p-value of 0.854).  Highest sero-prevalence for both HBsAg and HCV was observed among donors  between 20 to 49 years, while both seroprevalence slightly increased with age (p-value of 0.765). These infections with HBsAg and HCV  were more prevalent in male donors. Highest sero-prevalence for both HBsAg and HCV was observed among donors between 20 to 49  years, while both seroprevalence slightly increased with age. This means that government and policy makers, as well as other  stakeholders should emphasize more on the youth, and especially the male sexes in rolling out interventions and campaigns aimed at  mitigating these infections. There exists a decreasing trend of transfusion-transmissible viral infections (i.e. HBsAg and HCV) in blood  donations. This indicates that the Ghana National Blood Service’s mandate of ensuring the safety of blood supply has been successful  since the prevalence of viral infections have been reduced to very low levels in blood donations over the years. However,  more  effective techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are needed to guarantee blood safety. More outreach screening and    sensitization programmes by the National Blood Service will help in reducing the prevalence.