Seroprevalence and trend of hepatitides among blood donors in a district hospital in Ghana: a nine-year retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis infections are among the greatest threats to human existence and survival and hence poses a serious public health challenge in blood donation. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and trend of hepatitis infections among voluntary blood donors at Nkenkaasu District Hospital. A retrospective study of voluntary blood donors’ records from January 2010 to December 2018 was conducted. Data on the donors’ age, sex and serum HBsAg and Hepatitis C virus results were retrieved from the Laboratory’s register and analyzed with SPSS version 16.0. Out of the 3306 total donors, the seroprevalence of hepatitis C infection was 11.7% and hepatitis B infection was 10.3%. Only 1.4% of the donors were co-infected with both pathogens and 82.7% had no infection. Rhesus blood group had a significant association with Hepatitis B (P = 0.005). As at 2010, both hepatitis infections had the same prevalence (73), from 2011 to 2018 both showed inconsistent trends. The relatively high seroprevalence of hepatitis infections identified from the study poses a greater threat to blood safety. Extensive screening of blood donors using standard techniques is highly recommended to ensure that recipients receive safe blood.

KEYWORDS:

• Hepatitides
• blood donor
• hepatitis B virus
• hepatitis C virus

Authors’ Contributions

This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors CN, SD, and FOB conceived and designed the study. Authors CN, FOB, and ROA collected the data. CN and SD analyzed, interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. All authors critically reviewed, revised and approved the final manuscript.

Competing Interests

All authors declare that there is no competing interest.

Ethical Consideration

Permission for the study was obtained from the ethical committee of Nkenkaasu District Hospital. However, because of the retrospective nature of the study, informed consent could not be obtained from the study participants.