Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Blood Donations and Transfusions in Nigeria - A Multi-facility Study of 34 Tertiary Hospitals
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Date
2022
Authors
Oreh, A
Bozegha, T
Ihimekpen, A
Biyama, F
Irechukwu, C
Aliu, S
Oshiame, D
Nnabuihe, A
Ndanitsa, A
Nnachi, O
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nigerian journal of clinical practice
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic affected blood
supplies globally. Mobile blood drive campaigns halted, and voluntary blood
donations reduced, challenging available blood supplies. Furthermore, fears of virus
transmission led to deferrals of elective surgeries and non-urgent clinical procedures
with noticeable declines in blood donations and transfusions. Aims: We aimed to
assess the effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the number of blood donations
and transfusions across the country by blood product type across various hospital
departments. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was
conducted to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services
in 34 tertiary hospitals in Nigeria, comparing January to July 2019 (pre-COVID-19)
to January to July 2020 (peri-COVID-19). Data were collected from the country’s
web-based software District Health Information System, Version 2 (DHIS2).
Results: A 17.1% decline in numbers of blood donations was observed over the
study period, especially in April 2020 (44.3%), a 21.7% decline in numbers of blood
transfusions, especially in April 2020 (44.3%). The largest declines in transfusion
were noted in surgery department for fresh frozen plasma (80.1%) [p = 0.012] and
accident and emergency department transfusion of platelets (78.3%) [p = 0.005].
The least decline of statistical significance was observed in internal medicine
transfusions of whole blood (19.6%) [p = 0.011]. Conclusions: The COVID-19
pandemic significantly affected the numbers of blood donations and transfusions
in Nigeria. Strengthening blood services to provide various blood components and
secure safe blood supplies during public health emergencies is therefore critical.
Description
Scholarly article
Keywords
Blood collection, , blood components, , donors, , transfusion medicine (in general) , Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE
Citation
Oreh, A., Bozegha, T., Ihimekpen, A., Biyama, F., Irechukwu, C., Aliu, S., et al. (2022). Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donation and transfusion in Nigeria – A multi-facility study of 34 tertiary hospitals. Nigerian journal of clinical practice. 25(6), 786-793. 10.4103/njcp.njcp_1437_21