Conclusion Most of the donors know COVID-19, its transmission routes and manifestations. In the absence of barrier measures, they perceive blood donation as a threat to their health. Distribution of masks and hydroalcoholic solution might motivate more donors and improve the blood supply.

Background and Objectives Although interest in assessing risk of TTIs, very few trends in blood safety epidemiological data from resource-limited blood services are reported in the literature. This analysis aims at reporting trends in seroprevalences of TTIs in blood donations in the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital (UTH) from 2011 to 2015 and to describe reasons for these changes. Materials and Methods All donations of 2015 were tested for HIV 1&2 antibodies and the P24 antigen, HBsAg, HCV antibody and the Treponema pallidum antibody. Screening for HIV uses a national algorithm based on the systematic use of two assays of different principles: a rapid determination testing assay and an EIA HIV 1 & 2 Ab-Ag. The tests used for HBsAg and HCVAb screening were all based on EIA techniques. Treponema pallidum antibody screening was based on Treponema Pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) and rapid immunochromatographic test (RIT). Screening techniques and results from 2015 were compared to retrospective data from 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Results In 2015, 13·4% (n = 214) of 1,596 blood donations were seropositive for at least one screened TTIs. The most frequent serological marker was HBsAg with 123 (7·7%) blood units contaminated. Nineteen (1·2%) and 18 (1·1%) blood units was positive for HIV and syphilis, respectively. There was a significant decrease in the total number of blood donations (P < 10−4) and HIV, HBsAg and syphilis seroprevalences and an increase in the proportion of voluntary non-remunerated blood donor (P < 0·05). HCVAb seroprevalence was 3·8% in 2015 and has not decreased significantly over the years (P = 0·09). Conclusion Significant progress is noted in reduction in seroprevalences of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis since the beginning of a regular registration of data in 1990.

The frequency of inhibitors in hemophiliac patient undergoing replacement therapy is high in Cameroon. Severity of disease was found to be the main contributing factor in patients who developed inhibitors.

Background and objective In the WHO Universal test and treat strategy, falsepositive HIV blood donors and patients may be unnecessarily put under antiretroviral treatment and false-negative subjects may be lost to follow-up. This study assessed the false positivity rate of the Cameroonian national HIV screening testing algorithm and the benefit of a confirmation test in the enrolment of patients and donors in the HIV care programme. Methods We included initial HIV reactive blood donors and patients in a crosssectional study conducted in two Cameroonian hospitals. Samples were retested according to the Cameroon national algorithm for HIV diagnosis. A positive or discordant sample was retested with the Geenius Bio-Rad HIV 1&2 (Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) for confirmation. The Geenius HIV-1-positive results with 'poor' profiles were retested for RNA as well as the Geenius indeterminate results. Results Of the 356 participants, 190/225 (84Á4%) patients and 76/131 (58%) blood donors were declared positive with the national algorithm; 257 participants (96Á6%) were confirmed HIV-1-positive. The study revealed that about 34/1000 blood donors and patients are false-positive and unnecessarily put on treatment; 89/1000 blood donors and patients declared discordant could have been included immediately in the HIV care programme if confirmatory testing was performed. The second test of the algorithm had a false-negative rate of 3%. Eleven samples (3Á1%) were Geenius poor positive and NAT negative. Conclusion The universal test and treat strategy may identify and refer more individuals to HIV care if a third rapid confirmatory test is performed for discordant cases.