Risk Of Transmission Of Hepatitis B And C Virus Through Blood Transfusion Due To Screening Methods At The National Blood Transfusion Centre In Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to highlight the risk of transmitting HBV and HCV in blood banks in Kenya. This was a center based cross-sectional study. A total of 600 samples for blood donors attending the Regional Blood Transfusion Center in Nairobi, Kenya during the study period with negative HBsAg and HCV antibody test results were used for this study. The sera was screened for both Anti-HBc total (Bio-rad) and HCV Ag by ELISA techniques. HBV DNA and HCV RNA were screened using PCR. Out of the 600 samples 54/600 (9%) were found to be positive for anti HBc. HBV-DNA was detected in 8/600 (1.3%). 12/600 (2%) were found to be positive for HCV Ag and HCV RNA was detected in 3/600 (0.5%) of the samples. There is a relatively high burden of occult HBV and HCV infections in our environment and the use of HBsAg anti HCV alone for screening either in blood transfusion or transplantation services does not eliminate the risk of HBV and HCV transmissions.