Trends of Transfusion Transmissible Infections among Predominantly Male Blood Donors in Rawalpindi: A Five-Year Retrospective Study

Background: Blood transfusion carry an inherent risk of transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs). Monitoring trends and prevalence of TTIs may reveal crucial information regarding safety of blood supply and donor recruitment strategies. Objective: To evaluate the critical indicators of blood safety including seroprevalence and temporal trends of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus and syphilis among blood donors in Rawalpindi. Methods: The study was conducted in Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion. The data of 2,78,774 blood donors from 2016-2020 was retrospectively analyzed. Donors' demographics, type of donation, donation frequency and serological results of TTIs were retrieved and analyzed. Results: Of the 2,78,774 blood donations, 3.6% (n=10,091) blood donors were positive for one or more TTIs. Among these, the most prevalent was HCV (1.5%) and the least prevalent was HIV (0.08%). The seroprevalence of TTIs illustrated a declining trend from 4.2 to 3.4% over the period under study. Regarding trend of each TTI with respect to year, HBV, HCV and HIV depicted fluctuating trend while decreasing trend was observed for syphilis from 2016-2020. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of four major TTIs was evaluated between the year 2016 and 2020. A decreasing trend in the seroprevalence from 4.2 % to 3.6 % was observed over a five-year period. The HCV remained highest throughout the period whereas a gradual increase in HIV and a decrease in syphilis was observed.