article · Tanzania journal of health research/Tanzania Journal of Health Research
Blood transfusions are critical medical interventions, but unsafe donations carry significant risks of spreading transfusion-transmissible infections like Hepatitis B virus. In Tanzania, potential donors undergo pre-donation counselling and questionnaire screening to ensure only apparently healthy individuals give blood. A cross-sectional review of database records from 2018 to 2019 at the National Blood Transfusion Eastern Zonal Centre evaluated predictors of Hepatitis B among asymptomatic individuals. Overall, 5.4 percent of donors tested positive for Hepatitis B. The rate of infection was significantly higher among family replacement donors at 8.2 percent, compared to voluntary donors at 4.1 percent. Statistical analysis confirmed that family replacement donation serves as a significant predictor for Hepatitis B infection, carrying more than double the risk. These findings demonstrate that prioritising voluntary donation systems over family replacement reduces the presence of transfusion-transmissible infections in collected blood.
Ensuring the safety of blood supplies is essential to prevent the unintended spread of life-threatening viral infections during transfusions. By identifying family replacement donors as carrying a notably higher risk of Hepatitis B, this research provides clear evidence for public health systems to transition away from replacement donation models and invest in expanding regular, voluntary blood donor programmes.
The findings inform operational policy for national blood transfusion services and public health programmes, highlighting the need to shift procurement strategies towards voluntary donor recruitment. Because this is observational epidemiological research, it does not propose a specific commercial product or technology pathway, but directly supports blood bank management protocols and donor screening strategies.
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Background: Blood transfusions save lives, but transfusing unsafe blood risks exposure to transfusion-transmissible infections such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, malaria, and other infectious agents. In Tanzania, all blood donors are screened using a blood donor questionnaire, and only presumed healthy individuals are permitted to donate blood after pre-donation counselling. This study was conducted to investigate predictors of Hepatitis B infection among asymptomatic blood donors. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study at the National Blood Transfusion Eastern Zonal Center. Convenient sampling was employed to select study participants by reviewing records from the Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS) database of blood donors who donated blood at the fixed site from January 2018 to December 2019. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23; descriptive statistics were summarized using frequencies and percentages. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The overall prevalence of Hepatitis B infection was 5.4%. A higher prevalence was observed among family replacement donors (8.2%) than among voluntary donors (4.1%) (p<0.001). Family replacement donation was shown to be a significant indicator of Hepatitis B infection (aOR=2.1, 95%CI= 2.1(1.64-2.58), (P< 0.001). Conclusion: Family replacement donation was a predictor of HBV infection. More efforts should be focused on encouraging voluntary blood donations, as they have been shown in this study, as well as previous studies to have a lower risk of Hepatitis B infection.
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DOI: 10.4314/thrb.v26i6.4
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