Prevalence of ABO, Rh and KELL Blood Group Types and Transfusion- Transmissible Infections (TTI) among Blood Donors in Najran City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The knowledge of Red blood cells polymorphism and blood group antigens prevalence at the local and regional levels is necessary for safe blood transfusion services. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of significant blood group phenotypes like ABO, Rh, and Kell among the Najran people of Saudi Arabia. The transfusion transmittable infection (TTI) rate and blood abnormalities among various blood types were assessed to ensure safe blood transfusion. ABO and Rh blood prevalence (n=970) and Rh phenotype polymorphism were estimated in over 531 unrelated donors. The blood samples were screened for certain TTIs like AHBC- Anti-hepatitis B core, HTLV-1- human T-lymphotropic virus type I, HCV- hepatitis C virus, HBsAg- Hepatitis B antigen, HIV- Human immunodeficiency virus, SIC- Sickle cell, MP- Malaria parasite, and SYP- Syphilis. The selected samples were also observed for blood abnormalities by performing a complete blood count (CBC). Out of 970 subjects, 966 were males, and only 4 were females. The O>A>B>AB blood groups were identified with 46.89, 29.3, 9.1, and 2.38% prevalence among Rh-positive phenotype. While in the Rh system, 87.6% and 12.3% of Rh positive and Rh negative was observed. Among 953 samples, the prevalence of seropositive donors was approximately 5.66%. The screening showed about 5.036, 0.104, 0.314, 0.209, 2.18, 0.104, and 0.209% positivity for AHBC, HCV, HBsAg, HIV, SIC, MP, and SYP respectively. Results found that the frequency of D, C, E, c, and e were 99.9%, 67.98, 25.8, 77.9, 98.49%, respectively, in over 531 subjects. The e allele was more prevalent in Najran city. After observing the variations in the CBC parameters among the donors, it was perceived that about 28.78, 99.9, 29.41, and 31.6% of blood abnormalities were noticed for O, AB, B, and A blood groups, respectively. For blood banks and transfusion services, which play a significant role in the medical care of the patient, awareness of the distribution of the blood group is essential. Increasing consistency of blood donation programs would improve both donor satisfaction and motivation for potential donations of blood in near future.

Prevalence of Rh and K phenotypes among blood donors from different ethnicities in Samtah (Southwestern Region) Saudi Arabia

“…Similar frequencies of C and c antigens were noted in the current study and previous reports from Jazan (Halawani & Arjan, 2021), Hail (Alcantara et al., 2021), Najran (Alshehri et al., 2021) and Eastern Region (Owaidah et al., 2020) in Saudi blood donors (Table 2). In the current study, high frequency of C was noted among Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani blood donors.…”

“…Findings of this study show variation in the frequency of K antigen compared to locally published reports (Halawani & Arjan, 2021; Owaidah et al., 2020). The frequency of K antigen ranges between 12% and 14% according to some local studies (Alalshaikh et al., 2021; Alshehri et al., 2021; Felimban & Sumeda, 2021), which is approximately similar to the current study. One of the local reports shows high frequency of K antigen (18.7%) in Makkah (Khojah et al., 2021).…”

“…The current study showed similarities in the prevalence of D antigen among Saudi blood donors with some local studies (Alcantara, et al., 2021; Alshehri et al., 2021; Halawani & Arjan, 2021) while dissimilarity with a study from Eastern region (Owaidah et al., 2020) (Table 2). Similarly, insignificant difference was observed in the frequencies of D antigen among overall population including Saudi and non‐Saudi blood donors with two other local studies conducted in Riyadh (Alalshaikh et al., 2021; Elsayid et al., 2017).…”

“…The current study showed similarities in the prevalence of D antigen among blood donors with some local studies (Alcantara, et al, 2021;Alshehri et al, 2021;Halawani & Arjan, 2021) while dissimilarity with a study from Eastern region (Owaidah et al, 2020) (Table 2).…”

“…Furthermore, the frequencies of D antigen found in this study and some other studies show similarities in Saudi, Pakistani (Anwar et al, 2016) and Sudanese (Shahata et al, 2012) population while slightly lower frequencies in Egyptians (Swelem et al, 2018) and Indians (Sharma et al, 2013). The variation in the current study with other local studies (Alshehri et al, 2021;Elsayid et al, 2017;Owaidah et al, 2020) could be attributed to the tribal variation and study participants including non-Saudis.…”