International Blood Research & Reviews

Background: Blood donation is a very important life-saving intervention in health care services. Post transfusion infections such as hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus infection continues to be an important public health concern with regard to blood transfusion, and WHO has recommended that these diseases should be screened to get safe blood. Therefore, testing for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and antibodies to hepatitis C antigen (anti-HCV) is a very important preventive measure.

Methods: The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus seromarkers among blood donors as a foundation for safe blood transfusion in North East of Libya from 2008 until 2015. The total of 78.987 blood samples obtained from healthy blood donors who attended blood bank, were tested for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies by a third generation enzyme linked immunoassay (ELISA).

Results: From total samples examined, the frequency of HBsAg positive cases was 0.21%, the number of anti-HBV positive samples were found to be particularly high in the age group 41>50 years. The number of anti-HCV positive samples was found to be particularly high in same age group. The frequency of HCV positive blood donors among this sample was 0.24%.

Conclusion: The study revealed a low prevalence of HBV and HCV among our prospective blood donors. It could be that people who know their status do not come for blood donation or as a result of other challenges confronting safe blood practices in Northeast of Libya.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the Haemoglobin Electrophoresis pattern among the children attending Paediatrics Department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, North-Western of Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: A total of three hundred and Ninety-five (395) children aged 0-15 years were recruited for this study. About 3 milliliter of blood was collected into the K₂EDTA container. The haemoglobin electrophoresis was carried-out at alkaline pH (8.6) using the method described by Helena Biosciences procedure. 

Results: The present study recorded the prevalence of HbAA, HbAS,  HbSS, HbAF, HbSS+F, HbAC and HbSC to be 70.0, 15.2, 5.0, 0.3, 6.0%, 2.0, and 1.5% respectively with a prevalence of 11% sickle cell anaemia among the study subjects.

Conclusions: HbAA is the predominant haemoglobin in our environment, there is also a significant number of other haemoglobin variants. Many children with other haemoglobin variants are surviving to adulthood due to advances in medicine, a larger number of pregnant women with sickle cell disease with all the attendant challenges, it should be expected in our environment. It is necessary therefore, to keep abreast with developments in the area of its management in order to cope with the challenges.

Aims: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is the most frequent adult leukemia in Western countries accounting for 25 to 30% of all leukemic patients. The clinical and haematological features vary from patient to patient. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical presentation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, to evaluate haematological patterns of the disease in the peripheral blood and bone marrow and to correlate them with the clinical stage of the disease.

Study Design: This is a retrospective descriptive study.

Place and Duration: Radio Isotope Centre Khartoum (RICK), haematology laboratory during the period of January 2010 to December 2011.

Methodology: The data were collected at the haematology laboratory from patients’ records as well as from a special questionnaire designed for this study. Clinical data, complete blood count, bone marrow examination and immunophenotyping results were used.

Results: Out of 98 cases studied 69 (70.4%) were males and 29 (29.6%) were females. Sixteen patients (16.3%) were less than 50 years old (young patients) and 82 (83.7%) were more than 50 years of age (elderly patients). 49.1% of the patients were from western Sudan. Eight patients (8.2%) were asymptomatic. Absolute lymphocyte count above 5× 10⁹/L had significant association with diffuse pattern of infiltration (P value=0.035) and was not significantly associated with advanced Rai stage (stage III 32.6%, Rai stage IV 22.8%) (P value=0.710).

Conclusion: Clinical and haematological pattern of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in Sudanese patients has comparable results with previous studies in other parts of the world. Most of the patients were elderly male, from western Sudan presented with nonspecific symptoms, generalized lymphadenopathy and leukocytosis. The majority of patients presented in advanced stage at the diagnosis.

Introduction: Anaemia is a global public health problem. It affects more than 56 million people globally, two thirds of them being from developing countries. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence and types of anaemia among the children attending the Paediatrics Department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH),Sokoto North-Western Nigeria.

Method: Four hundred children between the ages of newborn to 15 years were recruited for this study. Haematological parameters tested include red cell indices, white cell total and differential, platelet counts and morphologies were studied with a Mythic^TM 5-part autoanalyzer and manual techniques while morphological features were examined on blood film stained with Leishman’s stain. Other investigations include serum iron, serum ferritin, serum transferrin, total iron binding capacity and haemoglobin electrophoresis using an alkaline pH 8.4.

Result: Out of the four hundred children tested, 139 (34.8%) were anaemic, revealing five aetiological types of anaemia among the children: Iron deficiency 62 (44.6%), sickle cell 43 (31.0%), normocytic normochromic 19 (13.7%), anaemia of chronic diseases 10 (7.1%), and megaloblastic 5 (3.6%) and three morphologic classification (i.e., normocytic anaemia 48 (34.5%), macrocytic anaemia 18 (13.0%), and microcytic anaemia 73 (52.5%)).

Conclusion: This cross-sectional non-interventional study found approximately one-third of a child cohort with anaemia in a single hospital in a North-Western Nigeria. These findings lead to the potential for the targeted provision of iron and other micro nutrients supplementation for anaemic children.

Aims: HBV causes both acute and chronic infections and is transmitted through blood or other body fluids. The present study deals with the molecular detection of HBV using PCR.  

Study Design: Confirmed positive samples of HBV were used to standardize the molecular diagnostic assay. DNA was extracted and used to standardize diagnostic PCR.

Place and Duration of Study: Centre for Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India, between January 2015 and July 2015.

Methodology: Positive Samples were obtained from Department of Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), New Delhi. DNA was extracted from these positive samples and used for standardization of conventional PCR reaction. The results were checked by gel electrophoresis.

Results: Positive samples of HBV were detected by standardize PCR. Both the samples showed strong band of 259 bp and there is no amplification in the negative control.

Conclusion: Rapid tests have low sensitivity and specificity while molecular assays are rapid, sensitive and specific. Conventional PCR is rapid, specific, sensitive and it is also less costly than Real-Time PCR. Cost of an assay is an important factor in controlling a disease in developing countries.