Blood transfusion related paediatric HIV/AIDS in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

This prospective study was aimed at determining the contribution of blood transfusion to paediatric HIV infection in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It involved HIV screening of consecutive children presenting at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife, between March 1996 and March 2001, with any of the signs in the WHO clinical case definition for paediatric AIDS. The HIV serostatus of blood donors at the OAUTH was also extracted from the blood bank records. Of the 263 children who met the criteria for HIV screening, 35 (13.3%) were HIV-positive. Eighteen of the 263 children screened had a history of blood transfusion and 12 (66.7%) of the 18 were HIV-positive. Eleven (91.7%) of the 12 HIV-positive patients were transfused in private hospitals with blood collected from private laboratories. The blood with which the HIV-positive children were transfused was unscreened in three, screened in two and the HIV status unknown in the others. The sole voluntary donor was an HIV-positive father whose child received his unscreened blood. Only two (16.7%) of the mothers of the previously transfused HIV-positive children were also HIV-positive. 'Paid' donors accounted for 94.3% of total donors in OAUTH blood bank records and cumulative HIV-positivity was statistically significantly higher in 'paid' donors than in voluntary donors (p=0.005). We conclude that transfusion with unsafe blood is an important route for HIV infection in symptomatic children and that HIV-positivity is higher among paid donors. We recommend the establishment of a national blood transfusion service, which is presently non-existent in Nigeria, and the enforcement of laws guiding blood transfusion. Voluntary blood donation should be encouraged and health workers in the private sectors educated on the link between blood transfusion and HIV infection.