title: Seropositivity of hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV in chronically transfused β-thalassaemia major patients.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and trend of transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) in chronically transfused β-thalassaemia major (TM) patients with reference to the duration of transfusions. A cross-sectional study was done on 160 β-TM patients and 5517 healthy blood donors to find out the prevalence of HCV, HBV and HIV infections. Out of 160 patients, 21 cases (13.1%) were anti-HCV positive, 2 (1.25%) were HBsAg positive. HIV antibodies were not detected in any sample. However, 109 (1.9%) and 104 (1.8%) of 5517 blood donors were positive for HCV and HBV respectively. No donor showed HIV antibodies. Anti-HCV was positive in 9/111(8.4%) thalassaemics (< 10 years of age) while 11/49 (22%) [> 10 years of age] showing significant difference (p = 0.005) among the two groups. For the past 10 - 12 years the screening of blood has reduced the magnitude of the disease significantly as shown by the trend in two age groups. Further improvements need to be done to implement uniform screening throughout the country.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, National Institute of Blood Diseases, Karachi. muddasirsaqib@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Saqib H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.forename: Tahir S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Shamsi
authors.forename: Mohammed Tahir
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Kousar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Perveen
authors.forename: Tasneem
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Farzana
authors.forename: Sajida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erum
authors.forename: Iqra
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ansari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D015483:HIV Antibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies