Epidemiology of Transfusion Transmitted Infection among Patients with β-Thalassaemia Major in Pakistan.

Introduction. Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTIs) continue to be a major risk in transfusions in many parts of the world. The transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia patients are particularly at risk of acquiring TTIs. The current study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of TTIs in transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia patients. Material and Methods. A cross-sectional study of 1253 multitransfused thalassaemia major patients was conducted in five different centres of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Karachi. The study subjects were screened for HIV, HCV, and HBV. The screening was performed at two centres: Department of Pathology, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (SZAB) Medical University, and Blood Transfusion Services, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, from July to December 2015. The confirmatory screening was performed by Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CLIA). Results. Out of the 1253 multiple transfused patients, 317 (25.3%) were infected with TTIs. HCV was positive in 273 cases (21.7%), HBV in 38 cases (3.0%), and HIV in 6 cases (0.5%). Conclusion. HCV was the leading TTI in multitransfused thalassaemia major patients in the study. Presence of HIV in thalassaemia patients is a recent disturbing development in Pakistan. Improved regulation of blood banks including use of internationally or nationally evaluated kits will bring down the incidence of TTIs in transfusion-dependent β-thalassaemia patients. More stringent behavioral and serological pretransfusion screening of blood for TTIs must be implemented in blood banks.