| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 19
| Issue : 1 | Page : 36-39 |
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Risk factors and seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus antibody among blood donors in Lagos
TM Balogun1, I Akinsete1, MA Durosinmi2
1 Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, P.M.B 21105 Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
2 Department of Haematology and Immunology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
T M Balogun
P O Box 10315, G PO, Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Lagos
Nigeria
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
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Aims and objectives: This study was undertaken (i) to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to Hepatitis C virus (anti -HCV) among blood donors (ii) to document the incidence of known risk factors for HCV infection among blood donors.
Patients and Methods: This is a cross sectional prospective study among apparently normal blood donors. Subjects were recruited from three different hospitals in Lagos metropolis. All recruited donors were evaluated for HCV infection- associated risk factors by questionnaire interviews. Sera samples from recruited donors were tested for anti-HCV using third generation Murex (Murex Biotech, South Africa) and fourth generation Dialab Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits (Dialab. Austria).
Results: A total of three hundred and thirty four blood donors were screened, of which seven (2.1 %) were positive for anti-HCV.
The blood donors comprised 15 (4.5 %) females and 319 (95.5 %) males.
There was an association between anti-HCV positivity and history of multiple sex partners and previous sexually transmitted infections (X2-15.9; p<0.05)
Majority of blood donors were family replacement 317 (94.9 %) with anti-HCV prevalence of 2.2 % (7/317) while 5.1 % (17/334) were voluntary non remunerated with anti-HCV prevalence of 0% (p>0.05)
Conclusion: Prevalence of anti-HCV among blood donors in Lagos (2.1%) is low as in most previous reports from Nigeria and some other parts of Africa |
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