Abstract

Background: Blood transfusion is an integral component of modern medicine; however, it is also associated with life-threatening complications and risks of transmitting blood borne infections like HIV, Hepatitis B and C, syphilis and many more.
Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections in blood donors and their distribution among various socio demographic variables. Material and Methods: Blood donor records of all sero-reactive cases were reviewed retrospectively from January 2014 to December 2015 at the blood bank of Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Distribution of sero-reactive donors among various socio-demographic variables was analyzed in terms of frequency, percentage, and ratio. Difference between proportions of sero-reactive donors was evaluated by Z test and p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant at 95% confidence interval. Data was analyzed using MS Excel 2007. Result: A total of 12,001 donors were selected for blood donation comprising 98.18% males and 1.82% females. Sero- prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis was 0.09%, 1.44%, 1.11%and 0.53%, respectively and overall being 3.2%. Statistically, significant difference in proportion in gender was found only for HBV. Majority of sero-reactive donors were from rural areas (72.47%) and agriculture (39.22%) was the most common occupation. There was significant difference in proportions of donors sero-reactive for HBV and HCV from low and high education levels. Conclusion: Transfusion transmissible infections were more common in males and those from rural background. There was a significant difference in proportions of donors sero-reactive for HBV and HCV in low and high education groups. Voluntary donors are safer than both family and replacement donors.