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[Infectious markers among blood donors in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)]
A Batina1, S Kabemba, R Malengela
1Centre Provincial de Transfusion Sanguine, Cliniques Universitaires de Kisangani.
Insights
Blood donors in the Democratic Republic of Congo show high rates of HIV, HBV, and syphilis. Remunerated donors had the highest infection prevalence, highlighting the need to promote voluntary blood donation and discourage paid donations.
Area of Science:
- Infectious diseases
- Public health
- Transfusion medicine
Context:
- Sub-Saharan Africa faces challenges in blood safety due to high infection rates and low voluntary donor numbers.
- The Kisangani transfusion center relies heavily on family (69.2%) and voluntary (29.2%) donors, with a small percentage of remunerated donors (1.6%).
Purpose:
- To determine the seroprevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and syphilis among different blood donor groups.
- To analyze the characteristics of these donor groups and identify risks associated with each category.
Summary:
- A retrospective analysis of 3,390 donors from January 2003 to December 2004 revealed overall seroprevalence rates of 4.7% for HIV, 5.4% for HBV, and 3.7% for syphilis.
- Significant differences were observed across donor types: voluntary donors had lower rates (HIV 2.2%, HBV 3%, syphilis 1.1%), while family donors showed higher rates (HIV 4.6%, HBV 4.9%, syphilis 3.6%).
- Remunerated donors exhibited alarmingly high infection rates (HIV 50%, HBV 64.3%, syphilis 53.6%).
Impact:
- The findings underscore the urgent need to promote voluntary blood donation through education and information campaigns.
- Abolishing remunerated blood donation and gradually discouraging family donations are crucial steps to enhance blood safety in the region.
Abstract:
In sub-saharian Africa, two factors account for the difficulties encountered to reach optimal blood safety: high frequency in the general population of various infections of which some are transmissible by blood transfusion and a still insufficient proportion of voluntary donors which constitute the safest group. The Kisangani transfusion center in DRC does not escape from this rule since in addition to voluntary blood donors (29.2%), its blood supply is mainly assured by family (or replacement) donors (69.2%). Persistence of a few remunerated donors (1.6%) was also noted at the period of the study. In this study, we determined seroprevalence of HIV, HBV and of syphilis infections in these three categories of donors and defined their characteristics by a retrospective analysis carried out on 3.390 subjects between January 2003 to December 2004. It revealed that 4.7% of the donors were positive for HIV, 5.4% for HBV and 3.7% for syphilis. There were significant differences according to studied groups : voluntary blood donors (n=989; HIV+ = 2.2%; VHB+ =3%; syphilis+ = 1.1%), family donors (n = 2.345; HIV+ = 4.6%; HBV+ = 4.9%; syphilis+ = 3.6%) and remunerated donors (n=56; HIV=50%; HBV+ = 64.3%; syphilis+ = 53.6%). These results indicate that it is necessary to intensify promotion of voluntary donation by a policy of information and education and to abolish practice of remunerated donation. Within the limits of possible, family donation should be gradually discouraged.
