Frequency of Hepatitis B, C and HIV Infections among Transfusion-Dependent Beta Thalassemia Patients in Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
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 200 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 8.5%, 1.5% and 0%, respectively.Moreover, 2% of the patients were found to be co-infected with both HBV and HCV.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.
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4410213986