Abstract

Introduction: Transfusion of Blood & Blood Components is one of the four recognized modes of Hepatitis B virus infection and HBsAg or Australia Antigen in the serum is the earliest marker of active HBV infection (acute/chronic) being detectable even before elimination of transaminases and onset of clinical illness. Various strategies are being used to reduce this transfusion transmitted infection
Material and methods: The retrospective study was conducted on apparently healthy blood donors over a period of 2 years from January,2020  to December,2021 at Blood Bank, Department of Pathology, Sir. T. Hospital, Bhavnagar in order to assess the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection. A total number of 34,555 blood donors were included in this study. HBsAg  ELISA test were used for this study purpose.
Results: Out of 34555 donors,12476  (36.104%) were in-house donors and 22079 (63.89%) were outdoor-camp donors. Out of 34555 donors 33403 (96.66 %) were male donors and 1152 (3.33%) were female donors. Out of 34555 blood units, 4096(11.8%) were discarded and out of them 188 (0.54%) were HBsAg reactive. The Seroprevalence of HBsAg was found to be 0.54%.
Conclusion: Blood Donors are often found to be reactive for Australia Antigen and others. In order to reduce this Seroprevalence, more sensitive screening assays and appropriate donor selection are must.