title: Prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections in blood donors of Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transfusion-transmitted infections threaten the safety of patients requiring blood transfusion, which in turn imposes serious challenges for the availability of safe blood products that are still affordable in health care systems with limited resources. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections in blood donors and to evaluate the demographic characteristics of reactive and non-reactive blood donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study was conducted at our institute in Karachi, Pakistan. Donors were required to fill a detailed questionnaire and were screened for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency viruses, Syphilis and Malaria by ELISA and thick film (malaria).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 16,602 blood donors, 16,557 were males and 45 females (mean age 28.6 ± 2). Nine hundred and seventy three (5.8%) donations were reactive in any screening assay, with 58 (0.35%) donations reacting in more than one assay. The prevalence of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency viruses, Syphilis and Malaria was found to be 1.84, 1.7, 0.04, 2.1 and 0.07% respectively. Characteristics among the infections were evaluated and it was found that unmarried donors had a higher chance to be infected by Hepatitis B virus and Syphilis as compared to the other infections. On the other hand, construction workers and married donors were at more risk to be infected by Syphilis rather than the other infections. In case of co-infections, personnel with different occupations and marital status were infected by more than one pathogen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial percentage of the blood donor's harbored transfusion-transmitted infections. Prevention of TTIs should be the main goal right now. There is a need for stringent selection of blood donors with the emphasis on getting voluntary donations and comprehensive screening of donor's blood for TTIs using standard methods to ensure the safety of blood recipient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arshad
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Munira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borhany
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Naseer
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Rehan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Samson
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boota
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Naveena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mustansir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Bank of National Institute of Blood Disease and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD), St 2/A block 17 Gulshan-e-Iqbal KDA scheme 24, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shamsi
keywords: Blood bank; Hepatitis; Pakistan; Syphilis