Prevalence and trends of Transfusion Transmissible Infections among blood donors in the State of Qatar, 2013-2017

Abstract Background: Millions of lives around the world are being saved annually through blood transfusion. However, blood transfusion is among the important vehicles for transmitting infections. The overall prevalence of Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTIs) among blood donors differs around the world, reflecting the variation in the prevalence of these infections. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and trends of TTIs among blood donors in Qatar. Methods: This is a cross sectional study utilizing donation records of a five-year period from January 2013 to December 2017. Results for all screening and confirmatory tests for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Human T-Lymphotropic Virus-I/II (HTLV-I/II), Syphilis and Malaria were included in the study. Results: Among the 190,509 donations received at the donation center during the study period, about 91% donations were received from males and 9% from females. The overall positivity rate for all tests were 1.95, 2.18, 1.62, 1.81 and 1.85 for the years 2013 through 2017. The overall positivity rates for HBV, Syphilis and Malaria were 0.30, 0.43 and 0.20, respectively. Throughout the years, the positivity rates decreased for HBV, Syphilis and Malaria and increased for HCV and HTLV. Conclusion: The overall positivity rate of all tests combined for the TTIs demonstrated a gradual increasing trend from 2013 to 2017. The rates for HCV and HTLV showed increasing trends too. To support developing effective prevention and control strategies, further investigations are needed to improve the estimations of the prevalence of these infections.