Transfusion transmissible infections in Brunei Darussalam: A blood donor study

 

Kenneth Shyh Kheng TEO, Muhd Shahruney SAPARUDIN, Zainun ZAINI, Mazmah AHMAD MORSHIDI, Norhaliza METASSAN, Ruwaidah JABERUDIN, Boon Chai TEO, Sahirah YAKUP, Nur Wendy Ashikin ABDULLAH LIM

Blood Transfusion Service, Department of Haematology, RIPAS Hospital, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

 

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Despite the improvement with blood screening, transfusion transmissible infections (TTI) remain a concern. In Brunei Darussalam, blood is collected based on voluntary non-remunerated blood donation. This study was carried out to determine the incidence of TTI positive blood collected in Brunei from 2005 to 2009. Materials and Methods: A total of 56,645 samples were collected over the period of the five years. Blood donors were screened for Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Syphilis and the Human Immune Deficiency virus (HIV). Blood samples were collected and centrifuged before they were screened using Abbott ARCHITECT i2000SR analyser. Reactive samples were retested and confirmed with supplementary testing. Comparisons were made with published studies from 1988 and 1989. Result: Out of 56,645 donation units, 874 donations units were positive (1.49%) for the any of the screening tests: 520 (0.92%) for HBV, 175 (0.31%) for HCV, 173 (0.31%) for syphilis and 6 (0.01%) for HIV. Among hepatitis B, there was a decreasing trend from 1.15% to 0.53% (p<0.05). For hepatitis C, there was a slight decreasing trend. For syphilis and HIV, there were increasing trends. Compared to the earlier studies, the incidence of hepatitis B infections were significantly lower (overall and per year, p values<0.001). Similarly, the incidence of VRDL was also significantly lower (p<0.001). Conclusion: The incidence of Hepatitis B was the highest among the rest of other infectious diseases. However, the rates are far lower than previous reports. Effective donor education including counseling of reactive donors, establishment of donor management system and introduction of nucleic acid testing may need to be introduced to reduce the incidence of TTI.

 

Keywords: Blood transfusion, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human immune deficiency virus, risk factors, transfusion associated infections

 

Correspondence author: Kenneth TEO, Blood Transfusion Service, Department of Haematology, RIPAS Hospital, Bandar Seri Begawan BA 1710, Brunei Darussalam.

E mail: tsk0957@gmail.com

 

Brunei Int Med J. 2011; 7 (6): 321-327

 

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