Misleading high HIV seroprevalence among blood donors. The trend in a specialist hospital blood bank in Lagos, Nigeria

The National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos, is served by a small blood bank with an annual average number of donors of 1,582. All donated blood are screened for Hepatitis B, HIV I & II and Syphilis. Seroprevalence rates are based on the results of local HIV screening tests. Initial analysis of these showed a prevalence of 6.89% for HIV in 1990, which was higher than the reported figures in the general population, antenatal clinics and blood donors (1-2) then. Through simple measures to encourage genuine relative donors while discouraging commercial donors, the seroprevalence fell to 2.8% in 1995, 2.3% in 1996. The seroprevalence of 2.6% in 2000 and 3% in 2002 appear to reflect the current rising trend in the general population. These figures underscore the risk of having blood transfusion services not based on regular non-remunerated donors. We conclude that HIV seroprevalence rates in blood donors from developing countries should specify the donor pool, i.e. voluntary, non-remunerated, relative/replacement or commercial.