Prevalence and Association of Transfusion Transmitted Infections with ABO and Rh Blood Groups among Blood Donors in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia: A 7-Year Retrospective Analysis

Malik A Altayar; Mohammed M Jalal; Ahmed Kabrah; Fadi S I Qashqari; Naif A Jalal; Hani Faidah; Mohammed A Baghdadi; Saeed Kabrah

doi:10.3390/medicina58070857

Prevalence and Association of Transfusion Transmitted Infections with ABO and Rh Blood Groups among Blood Donors in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia: A 7-Year Retrospective Analysis

Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 Jun 27;58(7):857. doi: 10.3390/medicina58070857.

Authors

Malik A Altayar¹, Mohammed M Jalal¹, Ahmed Kabrah², Fadi S I Qashqari³, Naif A Jalal³, Hani Faidah³, Mohammed A Baghdadi⁴, Saeed Kabrah²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia.
² Laboratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH & RC), Jeddah 23431, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This study was aimed at determining the prevalence estimate and association of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) with ABO and Rh blood groups among blood donors at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH & RC) in the western region of Saudi Arabia. A retrospective study was conducted at the blood bank center of KFSH and RC from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2019. Data on ABO and Rh blood group testing, serological testing, molecular investigations, serological assays, nucleic acid testing (NATs), and socio-demographic information were gathered. During the study period, there were 959,431 blood donors at the KFSH and RC. The overall 7-year cumulative prevalence estimate of blood transfusion-transmitted infections among blood donors was low at 7.93%, with an average prevalence estimate of 0.66%. Donors with the O blood group, the O RhD +ve blood group, in particular, were more at risk of developing TTIs, whereas donors with the AB blood group, the AB RhD -ve blood group, in particular, were at the lowest risk of developing TTIs. In total, 96.9% of the blood donors were males (n = 916,567). Almost half of the blood donors belong to the O blood group (49.4%). A total of 861,279 (91.0%) donors were found to be RhD positive. The percentages of TTIs were found to be higher in RhD +ve donors compared with RhD -ve donors. The prevalence estimate of the hemoglobin C (HbC) infection was the most common TTI among the blood donors being 3.97%, followed by malaria being 2.21%. The least prevalence estimate of TTI in the present study was for NAT HIV being 0.02%. Significant associations were observed between RhD +ve and RhD -ve among the malaria-infected donors (A: χ² = 26.618, p = 0.001; AB: χ² = 23.540, p = 0.001; B: χ² = 5.419, p = 0.020; O: χ² = 68.701, p = 0.001). The current 7-year retrospective study showed a low level of TTIs among blood donors. However, we urge that more research encompassing the entire country be conducted in order to obtain more representative results in terms of the prevalence estimate and association of transfusion-transmitted infections with ABO and Rh blood groups in communities.

Keywords: ABO blood groups; KFSH and RC; Saudi Arabia; TTIs; blood donors; blood transfusion-transmitted infections.

MeSH terms

Blood Donors
Blood Group Antigens*
Female
Humans
Male
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
Transfusion Reaction* / epidemiology

Substances

Blood Group Antigens

Grants and funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or nonprofit sectors.