Association between hepatitis C infection and number of screened blood unit transfusions in thalassemic children
Abstract
Background Donor blood screening test for antibody againsthepatitis C virus (HCV) by third generation ELISA is widely used.
However, there is still a window period during which a donor may
already be infected despite a negative screening test.
Objectives To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C infection in
thalassemic children who had received screened donor blood and
to seek the association between HCV infection and the number of
blood unit transfusions received.
Methods This was an analytic cross-sectional study. Sixty-seven
children who had received third generation ELISA screened donor
blood were examined for HCV antibody. The study was conducted
in Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung, from January to
March 2004. The prevalence of hepatitis C was presented in per-
centage. The association between HCV infection and sex, age,
interval between transfusions, and the number of blood unit trans-
fusions received was determined by univariate analysis and logis-
tic regression analysis.
Results In univariate analysis, significant difference between HCV-
infected and uninfected subjects was found in the mean age and
mean number of blood units transfused (P<0.001). In logistic re-
gression analysis, we found a significant association between the
quantity of transfused blood with positive HCV antibody (P<0.001).
The odds ratio for positive HCV antibody was 1.08 for each blood
unit transfusion received (95%CI 1.02;1.14). The prevalence of
hepatitis C in thalassemic children who received third generation
ELISA screened blood was 22.4% (95%CI 12.4%;32.4%). This
prevalence is lower than that in a previous study of thalassemic
children receiving unscreened blood (50.8%).
Conclusions The prevalence of HCV infection in thalassemic chil-
dren who had received screened donor blood is 22.4%. HCV in-
fection is significantly associated with the number of screened blood
unit transfusions
References
R, et al. Posttransfusion an community-acquired hepa-
titis C in childhood. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr.
1994;18:279-83.
2. Dhawan VK. Hepatitis C. Cited 2003 Sept 2. Avail-
able from: http://www.hepatitis-central.com/hcv/
hepatitisc.html
3. Jamal R, Fadzillah G, Zulkifli SZ, Yasmin M. Seropreva-
lence of hepatitis C, CMV and HIV in multiply trans-
fused thalassaemia patients: results from a thalassaemia
day care center in Malaysia. Cited 2003 Nov 7. Avail-
able from: http://www.ethal.org.my/opencms/ opencms/
ethal/r...hepatitisB.html
4. Saberi-Firoozi M, Yazdankhah S, Karbasi HT. Anti-
CHV seropositivity among multiply transfused patients
with b-thalassemia major in southern Iran. Irn J Med
Sci. 1996;21:59.
5. Widjaja IS. Prevalens antibodi virus hepatitis C pada
penderita thalasemia yang mendapat transfusi di
Bagian/DMF Ilmu Kesehatan Anak FKUP/RSUD Dr.
Hasan Sadikin Bandung [thesis]. Bandung: Universi-
tas Padjadjaran, 1997.
6. Wiharta AS, Timan IS. Hepatitis C pada penderita
talasemia. Hepatologi anak masa kini. PKB FKUI
XXVII. 1992:163-9.
7. Donahue JG, Minoz A, Ness PM, Brown DE, Yawn
DH, McAlister HA, et al. Declining risk of post-trans-
fusion hepatitis C virus infection. N Engl J Med.
1992;327:369-77.
8. Seeff LB. Natural history of hepatitis C. Hepatology.
1997;26(suppl 1):21-8s.
9. Lok ASF, Gunaratnam NT. Diagnosis of hepatitis C.
Hepatology. 1997;26 (suppl 1):48-56s.
10. Gretch DR. Diagnostic tests for hepatitis C. Hepato-
logy. 1997; 26(suppl 1):43-7s.
11. Yang TP, Pak E, Gill MA. Current pharmaceutical care
of hepatitis. Cited 2003 Nov 3. Available from: http:/
/www. cpha.com
12. FDA talk paper. FDA approves first nucleic acid test
(NAT) system to screen whole blood donors for infec-
tions with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and
hepatitis C virus (HCV). Cited 2004 Feb 5. Available
from: http://www.fda.gov/topics/ ANSWERS/2002/
ANS 01140.html
13. Wolf DC. Hepatitis, viral. In: Vasudeva R, Talavera F,
Heuman DM, Mechaber AJ, Katz J, editors. Cited 2004
Jan 7. Available from: http://www.emwdicine.com/
MED/topic 3180.htm
14. Davison S. Chronic hepatitis. In: Kelly DA, editor.
Disease of the liver and biliary system in children. Lon-
don: Blackwell Science Ltd; 1999. p. 97-123.
15. Kumpulan peraturan perundang-undangan bidang
kesehatan/transfusi darah dan surat keputusan pengurus
pusat palang merah Indonesia tentang transfusi darah.
Markas Besar Palang Merah Indonesia. 1995.
16. Lai ME, Mazzoleni AP, Argiolu F, De Virgilis S, Balestrieri
A, Purcell RH, et al. Hepatitis C virus in multiple epi-
sodes of acute hepatitis in polytransfused thalassaemic
children. Lancet. 1994;343:388-90.
17. Zulkarnain Z. Tinjauan multi aspek hepatitis virus C
pada anak. In: Zulkarnain Z, Bisanto J, Pujiarto PS,
Oswari H, editors. Tinjauan komprehensif hepatitis
virus pada anak. Pendidikan Kedokteran Berkelanjutan
Ilmu Kesehatan Anak XLII. Jakarta: Balai Penerbit
FKUI; 2000. p. 57-72.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Accepted 2016-10-08
Published 2016-10-10