ABSTRACT
The parasitaemia of malaria parasites has been documented in donor blood in some parts of Nigeria. Malaria remains an acute public health problem in many regions of the world despite tremendous progress in its control. However, blood donors are not routinely screened for malaria parasites. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of malaria parasite among blood donors in Benin City, Edo State Nigeria.
Blood samples were obtained from 400 voluntary and commercial blood donors at three different study locations (Ugbowo, Ringroad and Third East Circular). The sociodemographic characteristics of participants as well as biodata were obtained using structured questionnaires. Giemsa stained thick and thin blood films were made to identify malaria parasites using standard method. Also, ABO blood grouping was performed using agglutination standard methods.
Results obtained revealed a point prevalence of 20% (82/400), with male prevalence of 22.71% (77/339) and female 8.19% (5/61). Comparatively, blood Group O had the highest infection with 22.19% (71/320), while blood group A had the lowest with 9.52% (2/21). Donors belonging to age groups 18-27 years, 28-37 years and 38-47years had prevalence of 24.00%, 11.32% and 18.18%, respectively. The only identified Plasmodium species present in blood samples of blood donors was Plasmodium falciparum. Analysis based on occupation showed that student donors had the highest prevalence of 25.67% (67/26) while the Civil Servants (5.00%) was the lowest. Commercial donors had almost twice prevalence rate when compared with voluntary donors, 30.30% (30/99) vs 17.28% (52/301). In conclusion, there is a relatively high prevalence of malaria parasite among the blood donors in Benin City, Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that blood donors be screened for malaria parasite before they are allowed to donate blood to avert the deleterious effects.
