TY - JOUR AU - Uneke, Chigozie Jesse AU - Ogbu, Ogbonnaya AU - Nwojiji, Vincent PY - 2020/12/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Potential risk of induced malaria by blood transfusion in South-eastern Nigeria JF - McGill Journal of Medicine JA - McGill J Med VL - 9 IS - 1 SE - Research Article DO - 10.26443/mjm.v9i1.611 UR - https://mjm.mcgill.ca/article/view/611 SP - AB - <p>Induced malaria by blood transfusion is a potential health hazard but is often neglected&nbsp;in many malaria endemic areas. Standard parasitological technique was used to determine the&nbsp;prevalence of malaria among blood donors in the South-eastern Nigeria. Of the total 325 blood donors&nbsp;(310 males and 15 females) screened, 133 (40.9%, CI 95%: 35.6-46.2%) were infected with malaria&nbsp;parasite, 78 (58.6%) had 1-10 parasites per 100 thick film fields ('+' or 4-40 parasites per mm3) while&nbsp;55 (41.4%) had 11-100 parasites per 100 thick film fields ('++' or 41-400 parasites per mm3). P.&nbsp;falciparum was identified in all the infected cases, however 3 (2.3%) persons had mixed infection with&nbsp;P. malariae. Males were more infected (41.3%, CI 95%: 35.8-46.8%) than females (33.3%, CI 95%: 9.4-57.2%). The infection decreased with age with highest prevalence of 48.5% among those aged 20-25&nbsp;years. The infection significantly varied with age but not with sex (P&lt;0.05). Individuals with blood&nbsp;group B were slightly more infected (42.1%, 95%CI., 19.6-64.6%) than those of groups O (41.0%,CI&nbsp;95%: 35.3-46.7%) and A (40.0%, CI 95%: 20.8-59.2%) but there was no significant difference (P &lt;&nbsp;0.05). Highest prevalence of infection was recorded in the month of April corresponding to the onset of&nbsp;the wet season. An overhaul of existing blood donation policies in many health facilities in the sub-Saharan Africa to incorporate malaria screening is advocated. Curative antimalarial drugs followed by&nbsp;prophylactic drugs should be given to all recipients of Parasitized blood.</p> ER -