Hemogram abnormalities in apparently healthy first-time blood donors in Libreville, Gabon.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to determine complete blood count (CBC) abnormalities in Libreville blood donors to advocate for hemoglobin pre-donation implementation and to take into account CBC results in blood donation qualification.
 Methods: This retrospective study was conducted with 4573 blood donors in March 2016 and from January to April 2017. CBC was performed using SysmexXP-300TM hematology analyzer (SYSMEX Corporation, Kobe, Japan).
 Results: Blood donors were predominantly males (83.7%) with an age ranging from 18 to 59 years. The abnormalities of leukocyte, platelet and erythrocyte counts were determined in blood donors. Leukopenia and thrombocytopenia were significantly more common in men than women (29.02% vs 24.4%, p = 0.011 and 16.2% vs 7.5%, p <0.001). Only 1.0% of women and 0.84% of men have leukocytosis, and 0.7% of women and 0.2% of men have thrombocytosis. Anemia was significantly more common in women compared to men (69.4% vs. 45.0%, P <0.001). Normocytic normochromic and normocytic hypochromic anemia were most common among Libreville blood donors with 39.4% and 23.6%; followed by microcytic normochromic (18.7%) and microcytic hypochromic (13.2%) anemia. Normocytic normochromic and normocytic hypochromic anemia were significantly more common in men than in women, whereas microcytic normochromic anemia was more prevalent among women compared to men (34.6% vs. 13.9%, p <0.001).
 Conclusions: The results of this study clearly show the need to perform a pre-donation hemoglobin test in blood donors and to take into account their hemogram in the blood donation selection process at the Libreville National Blood Transfusion Center.
 Keywords: Hemogram, Anemia, Blood Donors, Libreville, Gabon.

Microfilariae Prevalence and its Association with Anemia Among First-time Blood Donors in Lambaréné, Gabon

“… 5 Anemia has a significant impact in Gabon, with prevalence rates of 69.5% in children and 56.7% in adolescents reported, with rates reaching 60.6% in women. 6 , 7 , 8 While Libreville has reported 69.4% and 45% anemia prevalence rates, respectively, among female and male first-time blood donors, 9 data for Lambaréné remains limited. Simultaneously, a study found that the prevalence rate of Loa was 26.4%, Mansonella perstans was 14.6%, and coinfections were 5.3% in the general Gabonese population.…”