Mohammed Razzaq Malik, Mohammed Yar Malik, Zaffar Iqbal, Mohammed Sharif Akhtar.
Knowledge about causative agents, transmission and prevention of Hepatitis B, C and HIV among blood donors.
J Sheikh Zayed Med Coll Jan ;1(2):46-9.

Background: Hepatitis B, C and (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) HIV viral infections are serious global public health problems. Objectives: To assess the knowledge about causative agents, transmission and prevention of hepatitis B, C and HIV among blood donors. Patients and Method: This descriptive study was conducted at the blood bank of Lady Wellington Hospital, Lahore in the month of December 2008. 500 subjects were included in this study, after taking informed consent. A structured questionnaire was used for interviewing the blood donors. Result: The mean age of the participants was 32.4 ± 4.2 years. Among 500 volunteer blood donors, 96.6% were males and 3.4% females. More people have heard about HIV (82 %) than HCV (74 %) and HBV (64 %). About half of the study participants knew that hepatitis B and C mainly affect the liver. 62 % individuals correctly answered about the spread of HIV through unsafe sex. As compared to this, 39 % and 29 % of the individuals knew that hepatitis B and C respectively spread through unsterilized syringes used for injections. Many subjects (about 80 %) did not know that all these diseases are caused by viruses. Conclusion: Knowledge about hepatitis B, C and HIV infections was inadequate among study population.

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