A novel strategy for screening blood donors for syphilis at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Sarkodie, F, Ullum, H, Owusu-Dabo, E, Owusu-Ofori, S, Owusu-Ofori, A and Hassall, O (2016) A novel strategy for screening blood donors for syphilis at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana. TRANSFUSION MEDICINE, 26 (1). pp. 63-66.

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Abstract

<h4>Objective</h4>To implement and describe a novel syphilis screening strategy for blood donors.<h4>Background</h4>The seroprevalence of syphilis in blood donors is often high in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) although the proportion of infectious donations is probably low. Syphilis screening may not happen at all; or the use of non-specific screening tests, which have high false positive rates, results in many donations being discarded unnecessarily. This can have a critical effect on already inadequate blood supplies.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Blood donors were screened at the time of donation with an anti-treponemal rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and blood collected irrespective of the result. Units screening negative for syphilis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B and C were released to stock. RDT screen-positive units were re-tested with rapid plasma reagin (RPR) - units testing negative were released to stock and test-positive units discarded.<h4>Results</h4>Of the 2213 blood donors, 182 (8·2%; 182/2213) screened positive by RDT. In addition, 38 out of these 182 (20·9%) were RPR positive on post-donation testing. Over 2 months there was a 79% reduction in blood units discarded due to a positive syphilis screen.<h4>Conclusion</h4>In other LMIC, this novel strategy can contribute to improving blood safety without jeopardising blood supply.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	blood donation testing, blood safety, serological testing
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	27 Oct 2016 10:14
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 07:27
DOI:	10.1111/tme.12279
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3004157