Browsing by Author "Omokanye Khadijat"

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    Screening for Syphilis Among Blood Donors in Nigeria: Application of General Quality Principles
    (African Society for Blood Transfusion, 2019-12) Shittu, Akeem; Fadeyi, Abayomi; Olawumi, Hannah; Babatunde, Abiola; Omokanye Khadijat; Ogunfemi, Mutiat
    Background: Safety of blood for transfusion is a global concern. WHO and Africa Society for Blood Transfusion require a minimum of antibodies to Treponema pallidum or VDRL or RPR test on all donated blood units before transfusion. Application of general quality principle in screening for Transfusion Transmissible Infections, syphilis inclusive is a major determinant of safety of blood transfusion. Methods: Forty-eight health care facilities were recruited for the study between January and June 2018. A self-administered structured questionnaire, physical interactions and telephone calls were employed to collect all relevant data on quality measures, types of blood donors, total number of blood units screened and reactivity to syphilis screening tests. Results: Venereal Disease Research Laboratory method was used to screen all donations for syphilis at 81.3% of the facilities screened. Twenty seven of the 39 facilities that screened for syphilis validated their test kits, 24 facilities had written SOPs and quality control system while 33 and 6 facilities procured syphilis screening reagents through Hospital Managements and Departments. A total of 98 478 blood units were collected and screened for syphilis. Of the 831 samples found reactive, 405, 408 and 18 were obtained from tertiary, secondary and private hospitals and 384, 381 and 66 of the samples were from family replacement, paid and voluntary non-remunerated blood donors respectively. Conclusion: Majority of the facilities studied screened for syphilis using non-specific method and most employed general quality principles that conform to National and Africa Society for Blood Transfusion guidelines. Syphilis sero-prevalence of 0.84% was recorded in this study.