Blood safety is major concern globally going by the increasing incidence of transfusion transmittable infections (TTIs). Safe transfusion of blood and blood components saves millions of lives, but unsafe transfusion practices put millions of people at risk of TTIs. Blood is one of the major sources of transmission of infectious diseases, viz. HIV, HBV, HCV, syphilis, and many other infections in India [1].

India has intermediate endemicity of hepatitis B with HBsAg prevalence of 2–10% among the study population. It has been estimated that up to 40 million people out of the 350 million people with hepatitis B chronic carriers worldwide arise in India. 2 HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver diseases, viz., hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In India, there are about 12–13 million HCV carriers and modeling data predict that the burden of disease could soon increase substantially [2,3]. Despite implementation of various screening assays for detection of TTIs, occasional cases of post-transfusion infections are common. Majority of these problems are due to prevalence of asymptomatic carriers in the society as well as due to blood donations during the window period of infections. The hazards of transfusion were minimized by proper selection of donors and screening for infectious diseases by a high sensitivity screening assay. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an integrated strategy to improve blood transfusion safety by establishment of well-organized blood transfusion services; prioritization of blood donation from voluntary non-remunerated donors, screening of donated blood for atleast four major TTIs with quality assured system, rational use of blood and implementation of effective quality control systems [4].

Meticulous pre transfusion becomes mandatory so as to prevent life threatening diseases [5]. Unsafe blood transfusion leads to increased morbidity as well as mortality hampering human and economic growth [6]. A proper protocol for screening donor, effective counseling, screening tests, proper discarding techniques for reactive units ensure in the reduction of acquiring TTI [7]. Hence the present study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of Transfusion Transmittable Infections viz., HIV, HCV, and HBV, Syphilis, malaria among the blood donors in blood bank.

Screening for anti HBs antibody: In the present study, some of the serum samples that showed anti HBcore antibody alone reactive were tested for the presence of anti HBs antibody using VITROS® Anti HBs Antibody–quantitative assay based on enhanced chemiluminescence technology in VITROS® ECiQ system.

Data analysis: After Data collection data entry was done in excel sheet. The data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS 18 version. Qualitative data was analysed using frequency and percentage table. Whereas association among various parameters was done using Chi square test and P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Ethical consideration: Ethical clearance was obtained from institutional ethical committed and informed written and verbal consent was obtained from the participants.

During the study period from January 2013 to

Technological advancements have led to the development of more sensitive methods to detect various infectious disease markers, e.g. viral specific antigens, antibodies and nucleic acids in order to enhance the safety of blood transfusion. However, early detection of infection remains elusive goal due to the existing problem of “Window period,” false negative results due to the limitation in the screening assays, genetic modifications in viral strains, and laboratory errors.

The present study noted that number of female donors were comparatively less than male donors which is similar to studies carried in Pune. [10, 11, 12, 13]. The reason behind less female donors may be attributed to myths associated with blood donation among females. In the present study majority of the donors were males (94%) the findings are similar the study done by various authors in Africa, Libya, Nigeria etc. 96.3% [14, 15, 16, 17, 18].

The majority blood donors in the present study were in the age group of 26 to 35years (48%). This differs from the figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO) which reported that 45% of donors were aged 25 or less. In the present study finding revealed that a lot of awareness is required among the blood donors to decrease the gender and age gap [19]. In this study the overall prevalence of TTI among blood donors of JJMMC Davangere Blood bank was 1.86%. This was lower, in comparison from neighboring Eritrea 3.8% [20], study done by Manzoor et al. and was 9.9% [21], Yemen by Saghir et al. 2.35% [22], among blood donors in Kassala, eastern Sudan by Abdallah and Ali 3% [23], Tessema et al. 9.5% [24] by Baye et al. 6.2% [15]. Whereas it is similar to findings of TTI in Brunei Darussalam et al. 1.49% [19], the lower prevalence in the present case may be due to the increased awareness. In the present study, the overall seroreactivity based on enhanced chemiluminescence assay, was 0.35% for HIV and1.86% for HbsAg, 0.22% for HCV. In 2009, it was estimated that 2.4 million people were living with HIV in India, which equates to a prevalence of 0.3%.

Based on the seroprevalence study among blood donors by dual testing strategy using high sensitivity serological assay and NAT testing, the present study reveals serious concerns regarding the HIV, HBV, and HCV infections among the blood donors and the safety of the blood supply in our country. Considering the vast population of the country, even low prevalence amounts to large number of infected people. If high sensitivity serological assays are not used, the safety of the blood for transfusion may become a big concern. Stringent measures in donor screening including better donor recruitment, promoting voluntary blood donation, screening of blood and blood products using dual testing strategy with high sensitivity serological Assays like chemiluminescence and ELISA, inclusion of anti HB core antibody screening

scenario.

Dr. Ravikanti was the Principal investigators who carried out the research under the guidance of Dr. Sunitha B.R., Dr. G. Vishwanath, Dr. Jagadeshwari. K. Whereas Dr. Siddaganga prepared the manuscript. The final manuscripts has been read and approved by all the authors.