Sero-Prevalence of Transfusion Transmissible Infections among Prospective Blood Donors in Ekpoma and its Environs

Introduction: Hepatitis B, C, and HIV are serious public health issues in developing nations. They can be spread through high-risk sexual behavior, vertical transmission, or parental contact, and they can result in both acute and chronic life-threatening illnesses. This study was carried out to determine the sero-prevalence of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) among prospective blood donors in AAU Ekpoma and its environs. Material and methods: In this cross-sectional study, four hundred and fifty (450) blood samples were aseptically collected from prospective blood donors in Ekpoma and its environs. Participants were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen, HIV, Syphilis and anti-HCV antibody using standard laboratory methods. Results: The result obtained showed that of the 450 samples screened, 2.33% of the subjects were seropositive for HBsAg, 1.33% were positive for Syphilis, 1.0% were positive for HIV and 0.67% were positive for HCV respectively. The sex related prevalence obtained showed that 0.67% females and 0.33% male was positive for HIV, 0.33% male and 1.00% females positive for Syphilis, 1.00% males and 1.33% females were positive for HBsAg and 0 .33% male and 0.33% female were positive for HCV respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the prevalence of HIV, Syphilis, HBV and HCV in the study population with respect to sex and age of the subjects. Risk factors such as unprotected sex accounted for 1.33%, 0.33%, 0.33% and 0.67% of HBV, HCV, HIV and Syphilis infections among seropositive prospective blood donors in Ekpoma, while previous blood transfusion accounted for 0.33%, 0.33% and 0.33% of HBV, HIV and Syphilis infections respectively. Conclusions: The observed sero-prevalence of TTIs among prospective blood donors in Ekpoma among undergraduates emphasizes the significance of early detection of disease agents in prevention and effective management of disease outbreaks especially in resource-limited settings.