MALARIA PARASITAEMIA AMONG BLOOD DONORS IN A NIGERIAN TEACHING HOSPITAL

This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among blood donors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 396 individuals comprising 255 males and 141 females were randomly selected for the study over a period of 6 monthsbetween November 2013 and April 2014 using standard field and laboratory techniques. 184 (46.46%) individuals were positive for malaria parasitaemia, where 168 (42.42%) individuals had Plasmodium falciparumwhile 16 (4.04%) individuals had Plasmodium malariae. Sex prevalence showed 129 (32.58%) and 55 (13.89%) for males and females respectively, this was statistically significant (P<0.05). Individuals between the ages of20-30years, 31-40years, 41-50years and 51-60years showed prevalences of 21.72%, 10.61, 7.83 and 6.31% respectively. This, however was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Prevalence according to donor typesshowed 29.29, 8.33 and 8.84% for commercial donors, relative donors and voluntary donors respectively. This was not statistically significant(P>0.05). These results showed that there is a high prevalence of asymptomatic parasitaemia in the study area. Hence, all blood samples should be screened for malaria parasites before such blood are transfused to avert its consequences on the recipients.

کلیدواژه ها:

Prevalence ، malaria ، blood donors ، Parasitaemia ، Plasmodium