Changing trends of transfusion transmitted viral infections among blood donors in the last decade—a 10-year study in a large tertiary care blood bank (2000–2009

Background

The main blood borne viruses' viz. hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), are a major public health issue, and represent significant causes of morbidity and mortality associated with transfusion. This study analysed the trends of blood borne infections among blood donors in a large blood bank in the last 10 years.

Method

Viral screening results of 80,500 voluntary and replacement donations from 2000 to 2009 were analysed. All donations were screened for HBV, HCV, and HIV. The seroprevalence rate of HBV, HCV, and HIV infections and 95% confidence interval were calculated.

Results

The seroprevalence rate of HBV, HIV, and HCV, decreased during the last 10-years study from 2000 to 2009. There is significant and impressive decrease in HBV seroprevalence rate from 2.39% in 2000 to 1.28% in 2009. The seroprevalence rate of HIV appeared to have decreased with a very significant value from 1.32% to 0.30% in 2009. Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence rate showed a slight decline in blood donations from 0.48% in 2001 to 0.22% in 2009.

Conclusion

There is a general reduction in the seroprevalence rate of viral infections. This is probably because of discouragement of professional or paid donations; better awareness, better prophylactic measures, and availability of vaccines have played a major role.     

Does a blood alcohol level of 0.15 or more identify accurately problem drinkers in a drink-driver population?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 or more identifies accurately problem drinking in an apprehended drinking driver. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytic study of 86 drink drivers ("diagnostic test study"). SETTING: St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, drink-driver education programme. SUBJECTS: Men aged between 18-25 years, applying for relicensing after disqualification, who were participants at 10 consecutive drink-driver education courses conducted in early 1987. OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reports of the amount of alcohol consumed and the amount of money spent on alcohol per week, the standard Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) score and the blood alcohol level at apprehension. The first three measures were used as reference standards for alcohol-related problems, against which the blood alcohol level was compared. MAJOR RESULTS: Scatter plots of BAC against amount consumed, amount spent and the MAST scores showed that a large proportion of the heaviest drinkers were not identified by the BAC. Log-transformed correlation coefficients were: for amount spent v. amount consumed, r = 0.73; for MAST score v. amount consumed, r = 0.52, and for MAST score v. amount spent r = 0.53. Correlating the BAC with the log of the MAST score gave r = 0.21, BAC with log of the amount consumed, r = 0.20, and BAC with log of the amount spent, r = 0.15. Comparing a BAC of 0.15 or more with a MAST score of greater than or equal to 5, we obtained a sensitivity of 0.36, a specificity of 0.76, a positive predictive value of 0.86, and a negative predictive value of 0.23. The prevalence of heavy drinking as measured by the MAST score was 0.80. CONCLUSION: A blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more identifies only a third of the problem drinkers in this sample of drink drivers. Although it selected a group of drinkers with alcohol-related problems, it missed most of the problem drinkers and did not reliably identify the heaviest drinkers.     

Transfusion-transmitted malaria in a kidney transplant recipient. How safe is our blood transfusion?

A 51-year-old male patient with living, unrelated kidney transplantation in Iran in June 2001, developed Plasmodium falciparum P. falciparum infection. He was maintained on cyclosporine A, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone. In August 2005, he was admitted to a medical facility in the local community with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and received several units of blood and blood products. Two months later, he was referred to Dhahran Health Center, and admitted with fever, abdominal pain, dysuria, and severe fatigue. Plasmodium falciparum with a parasitemia of 70% was detected in the peripheral smear. He was treated with intravenous quinidine gluconate and oral doxycycline, in addition to blood transfusion, and he responded well to the treatment. An investigation was carried out to try to find the source of malaria infection, which is believed to be the blood or blood products that he received during his initial acute illness. Measures to minimize transfusion related malaria are discussed.     

Effects of procainamide on 0morphological parameter of dense granule and a granule in blood platelet

Wehaveaccomplishedanumberofresearchesforprocainamide(PA).ItwasdemonstratedthatPAinhibitedADP--.AA--.thromhln--.collagen--,PAF(platelet--activatingfactor).CaCI,--,A23187,andotherinducedplateletaggregationsignificantly,andinhibitedtheincreaseincytosolicfreeCaZ--andtheproductionofthromboxaneBZ(TXB,)andmalondialdehyde(MDA)inbloodplatelet.PAshiftedtheclonidine--inducedconcentration--dependentplateletaggregationcurvesofabsorbancetotherightinaparallelfashion,andalsoreducedplateletadhesion.a…     

Pancreatic blood perfusion in sodium taurocholate－induced pancreatitis in rats

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Ketanserin stabilizes blood pressure in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats

Ketanserin stabilizes blood pressure in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats     

Subgrouping of A and AB blood groups in Indian blood centres: is it required?

Anti A1 antibody in the serum of A2 and A2B individuals is rare but when present can have laboratory and clinical significance. Routine subgrouping of all A and AB blood groups in blood centres in India is difficult due to economic constraints and has always been a point of debate. This study thus brings out the prevalence of anti A1 antibody and the clinical significance related to its presence. The results of the study showed a low prevalence of anti A1 antibody and when present, it had a low thermal amplitude and titre. Further, no blood group discrepancy or problems during compatibility testing were encountered with these (A1 antibody positive) blood units. Thus, it may be concluded that in India and other developing countries where resources are scarce, routine subgrouping of A and AB may not be really worthwhile unless there is a group discrepancy, problem during compatibility testing or history of a transfusion reaction.     

Can glucose preservatives be avoided in blood samples？

Objective：To evaluate the effect of cooling of whole blood samples without an anticoagulant and glucose preservative on glucose and other commonly measured clinical analytes by serial measurements over a three hour period. Methods： Thirty healthy adult volunteers about 20-50 years old,from Kasturba Medical College,Manipal （2008） were the participants. After obtaining informed consent from each participant,blood was collected （2 mL each） in three vacutainers-one without the use of an anticoagulant and glucose preservative, one with sodium fluoride-potassium oxalate and the other with disodium ethylene diamine tetraaeetic （EDTA）. Automatic analyzer Hitachi was used to measure glucose and other common clinical laboratory analytes, every hour for three hours. Results： The refrigerated samples without an anticoagulant and preservative, showed slightly lower values of glucose as compared to fluorinated samples but difference between these groups was not statistically significant （ P value 〉 0.05 ）. Also cooling had no effect on other analytes except potassium. Conclusion： Fluoride preservative as a regular practice for glucose samples can be avoided if the samples can be processed quickly as fluoriated samples also show a marginal fall in glucose values.     

Study of blood pressure profile of school children 6–15 years in a rural setting of Maharashtra

Background

High blood pressure in childhood is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke in adulthood. There is enough evidence to suggest that the roots of essential hypertension in adults extend into childhood. There is a paucity of literature on the blood pressure measurements amongst children. This study was done to study blood pressure profile of school children in rural area of Maharashtra.

Aim & objectives

This cross sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of hypertension in children 6–15 years and to study the association between selected variables and blood pressure.

Material & methods

This study was done using a predesigned questionnaire and making measurements of height, BMI and Blood pressure using standardized physical instruments following standard guidelines. The data was collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.

Results

The prevalence of hypertension in the study was found to be 4.4% with 3.5% in females and 5.1% in males.

Conclusion

In the study, hypertension in students was found to be significantly associated with higher BMI and with family history of hypertension. Age, height and BMI were found to correlate positively with Blood pressure levels in this study.     

Study of blood pressure profile of school children 6–15 years in a rural setting of Maharashtra

Background

High blood pressure in childhood is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke in adulthood. There is enough evidence to suggest that the roots of essential hypertension in adults extend into childhood. There is a paucity of literature on the blood pressure measurements amongst children. This study was done to study blood pressure profile of school children in rural area of Maharashtra.

Aim & objectives

This cross sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of hypertension in children 6–15 years and to study the association between selected variables and blood pressure.

Material & methods

This study was done using a predesigned questionnaire and making measurements of height, BMI and Blood pressure using standardized physical instruments following standard guidelines. The data was collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests.

Results

The prevalence of hypertension in the study was found to be 4.4% with 3.5% in females and 5.1% in males.

Conclusion

In the study, hypertension in students was found to be significantly associated with higher BMI and with family history of hypertension. Age, height and BMI were found to correlate positively with Blood pressure levels in this study.     

The changes of blood lipids, Na~ -K~ -ATPase and viscoelastic parameters of whole blood in different stages of experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits

Atherosclerosis(AS)resultsfrommanyfactors.TheroleOfrepeatedinjuriesordysfunctionofthevascularendotheliumisconsideredasamajorfactorintheinitiationandprogreSsionofathemecleroticplaqUes.Theimportantinjuriousagentsarehyperlipidethea,hemodroahacalforcesIvariouschethecalpreparations,etC.TherelationshipofblabsviseoelasticitywithAShasneverbeenstudied.Theaimofthisstudyistoassesstheroleplayedbybindlipids,erythrocyticNa -K -A~eactivityandviscoelasticprmetersofwholebloodinthepredictionofthepathologic…     

Surveillance of childhood blood lead levels in Chengdu,China in 2010–2011

INTRODUCTION

Lead poisoning has been receiving great attention around the world. The Child Hygiene Cooperation Center of the World Health Organization in China has been conducting investigations to monitor blood lead levels (BLLs) from as early as 2004. However, only several lead poisoning studies have been conducted in China since August 2009. The aim of the present study was to investigate the BLLs in children aged < 7 years and to analyse the risk factors of high BLLs in Chengdu, China.

METHODS

Questionnaires were distributed to children in Chengdu from 2010 to 2011. A total of 2,271 children were included in this study – 1,157 received BLL tests in 2010 and the remaining received the tests in 2011. BLL was measured using a tungsten atomiser absorption spectrophotometer.

RESULTS

The mean BLL of the 2,271 children was 6.2 µg/dL and 2.03% of the children had BLLs ≥ 10 µg/dL. Mean BLL seemed to increase with age. Unhygienic habits (e.g. not washing hands frequently, biting of toys and pencils), history of pica, use of coal and residence in an industrial zone were found to be the main risk factors contributing to high BLL (p < 0.05). Children with high BLLs have a higher risk of manifesting anorexia and/or abdominal pain as compared to those with low BLLs (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The mean BLL of children in Chengdu (i.e. 6.2 µg/dL) was found to be higher than that of children in developed countries. Childhood lead poisoning remains a public health problem.     

Anisodamine at higher concentrations in inhibiting alpha-adrenergic responses in isolated canine blood vessels.

The present study was designed to examine the effect of higher concentration of anisodamine on alpha-adrenergic responses in isolated canine blood vessels. Up to 10(-3) mol/L, anisodamine did not significantly affect the responses of saphenous vein to alpha 2-adrenergic agonist UK-14, 304. In contrast, anisodamine (10(-5), 10(-4), 10(-3) mol/L) caused the concentration-response curves of femoral artery to norepinephrine (pA2 = 4.81 +/- 0.11) to phenylephrine (pA2 = 4.86 +/- 0.20) shift markedly. However, the antagonism on the alpha 1-adrenergic responses of canine femoral artery to norepinephrine and phenylephrine by higher concentrations of anisodamine produces dose ratios which yield a linear Schild regression with a slope less than unity, indicating an inequilibrium between agonist, antagonist, and receptors. The probable mechanisms involved are discussed.

     

Analysis of tumor specific immunoglobulin gene rearrangement in peripheral blood B-cells of multiple myeloma patients by a PCR-SSCP method.

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Correlation of beta－receptors in human pathological brain tissue and in peripheral blood lymphocytes

Ｃｏｒｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｏｆｂｅｔａ－ｒｅｃｅｐｔｏｒｓｉｎｈｕｍａｎｐａｔｈｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｂｒａｉｎｔｉｓｓｕｅａｎｄｉｎｐｅｒｉｐｈｅｒａｌｂｌｏｏｄｌｙｍｐｈｏｃｙｔｅｓＨｕＸｉａｏｍｅｉ（胡晓梅）；ＺｈｕＣｈｅｎｇ（朱诚）；ＺｈａｎｇＧｕａｎ...     

Non-cancer related chromosome translocation frequency measured from a leukemia patient''s blood.

A new approach used to measure pre-cancer-induced genetic damage in a patient diagnosed as early B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, by totally separating the malignant B-lymphocytes and the normal T-lymphocytes is described. The lymphocytes separation by a rosetting method and chromosome transloeation analysis using chromosome painting were employed, in the case presented here, the utility of this approach is illustrated using blood lymphocytes from a nuclear dockyard worker who claims that his leukemia was induced by work-related radiation exposures. Blood lymphocytes were obtained after diagnosis of the disease, but prior to therapy, and measurements made of (1) the transloeation frequency in separated normal T-lymphocytes and (2) the trauslocation frequency in phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated lymphocytes,which include a fraction of the malignant B cells. The approach described here makes possible biodosimetry of pre-cancer exposures in these patients and may provide the dosimetric informatio     

Effect of partial pressure on solubility of isoflurane in blood.

The effect of partial pressure of isoflurane on its solubility in blood of different haematocrit was determined at different isoflurane partial pressures, using a syringe-flask method and gas chromatography with Mood from one donor. The silnbrany of isoflurane decreased with increasing blood haematocrit (39.5%, 51.9% and 61.9%) and isoflurane partial pressve from 1 MAC to 4 MAC. The solubility in 50% and 60% haematocrit blood at 2, 3 and 4 MAC was significantly different from the solubility in normal blood at 1 MAC (P<0.05). We conclude that the solution of isoflurane in blood (especially in high haematocrit blood) does not obey Henry's law.     

Homocysteine induces expressions of adhesive molecules on leukocytes in whole blood

Objective To observe whether homocysteine can directly alter the expressions of CD11b, CD1 8, CD14 and L-selectin on neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes in whole bloo d from healthy human subjects. Methods Leukocyte surface adhesive molecule expressions were analyzed by immunofluoresce nce flow cytometry.Results Homocysteine at the lowest concentration (20 μmol/L) significantly increased s urface adhesive molecule expressions of CD11b and CD18 on each cell type and CD1 4 on monocytes and neutrophils in whole blood.These effects were increased at homocysteine concentrations of 200 and 400 μmol/L, but at concentrations 1 mmol/L, CD11b/CD18 and CD14 expressions on all types of leukocytes were decrea sed.L-selectin expression was slightly decreased on all cell types in whole blood by homocysteine.Conclusion Homocysteine alters leukocyte expressions of CD11b/CD18, CD14 and L-selectin on leukocytes, which may be involved into homocysteine-induced leukocyte adhesion and migration.     

Changes in blood alcohol concentration and driving ability after alcohol intake

Intheindustrializedsociety ,trafficcrashhasbeenoneofthemaincausesofdeathsandinjuriesandthemor talityoftrafficcrashhasbeenrisingespeciallyinmanyde velopingcountriessuchasChinasince 1980s[1-3 ] .Itisre portedthatover 2 0 %ofthetrafficcrashesarealcohol re latedeveninsomeEuropeancountries[4] .Thus,itisim perativetolegislateagainstintoxicateddrivingwiththeaimofreducingalcohol relatedtrafficcrashes .Somepartsofourcountryhaveformulatedmethodstodistinguishintoxi cateddriving ,butthenationalstandardha…