AbstractBackground: Transfusion transmitted diseases continues to be a major threat for safe transfusion practices. Lack of study from this part of the country propelled us to conduct this study. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective hospital record based study conducted in a blood bank of a rural tertiary care medical college hospital at Karwar, Karnataka, India. Five year data of blood donors with transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) were evaluated and analyzed. Results: Among the 2655 donors screened, males (88.5%) were predominant. Among donors screened, hepatitis B (0.67%) was the most common TTI screened. No cases of Hepatitis C was seen during the study period. Conclusion: Prevalence of TTI amongst blood donors in the present study is comparatively low compared to various studies. Larger studies are necessary to predict overall prevalence in this part of the country. Being a smaller blood bank does give better screening strategies and improved donor recruitment, thereby improving blood safety.
Keywords: Blood Donors; TTI; Rural; Hepatitis B.