1. Frequency of Hepatitis B, C and HIV Infections among Transfusion-Dependent Beta Thalassemia Patients in Dhaka.
- Author
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Bhuyan GS, Noor AUZ, Sultana R, Noor FA, Sultana N, Sarker SK, Islam MT, Sayeed MA, Khabir MIU, Hossain AKME, Zeba Z, Qadri SK, Siddique MRF, Qadri SS, Qadri F, and Mannoor K
- Abstract
Transfusion transmitted infections have remained a major deterrent to public health, particularly among the patients with transfusion-dependent Beta thalassemia in developing countries. Although proper donor selection through adoption of WHO-advised infection panel has lowered the rate of infections, the multi-transfused patients are not free of risk. In this study, we screened 148 transfusion-dependent Beta thalassemia patients to determine the frequency of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) using the ELISA method. Among them, infected cases with HCV, HBV and HIV were 13.51%, 3.37% and 0%, respectively. Moreover, 2% of the patients were found to be co-infected with both HBV and HCV. The percentage of infections in the patients with frequent transfusion interval (≤30 days) was significantly higher ( p < 0.0005) than that in the patients with less frequent transfusion intervals (>30 days). Immunochromatography (ICT)-based rapid test kits are usually used to screen and confirm these infections in the blood of the patients. However, ICT-based tests are not sensitive enough to detect the infections. So, a combination of both Nucleic Acid testing (NAT) and serological testing are suggested to significantly reduce the risk of viral infections during blood transfusion.
- Published
- 2021
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