Abstract:

Purpose: Thalassemia and sickle cell anemia patients have frequent transfusions. Hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are tramsmitted infections with blood. The objective of this study is to determine frequency of these infections in our hemoglobinopathy patients. Material and Methods: We investigated 410 hemoglobinopathy patients. Viral serologies were detected with second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. In 410 patients (116 thalassemia major, 16 thalassemia intermedia, 12 hemoglobin H, 222 sickle cell anemia, 43 sickle-beta thalassemia and 1 Hb SE), there were 258 males and 152 females. Results: The rate of HBV is 1,2%, HCV is 3,2% and HIV is 0%. Our results shows that transfusion transmitted viral infection prevelance is not high compared to the literature. Conclusion: Using sensitive screening tests with periodically and right donor selection are very important for preventing these infections in hemoglobinopathy patients who are under high risk.

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