Parasitological Profile of Perstans filariasis among Blood Donors in Ile-Ife, Southwest, Nigeria

Filariasis transmission occurs during blood transfusion which poses a serious menace to the recipient of the blood and reduces blood availability in the blood bank. This study was conducted at Ile – Ife, in Osun State Southwest Nigeria between March and September, 2009 with a view to determine the prevalence of blood filariasis among blood donors in relation to age, sex and occupation of the donors. The blood samples of 250 donors were parasitologically examined directly with wet preparation, while the thick and thin films prepared from the Knott concentration method were stained with Giemsa staining technique for the presence of filarial worms. Out of the total 250 blood samples examined, 23(9.2%) were positive for filarial worm. The specie of filarial worm detected was mainly Mansonella perstans.The distribution of blood filariasis was higher among infected male donors 18 (78.2%) than their female counterparts 5(21.8%). Peak distribution was observed among blood donors aged between 21-30years old 15(65.2%), followed by donors aged 31-40years 5(21.7%) and least among donors in age bracket 41-50years 3(13.0%). Those within the age group of 10-20years had no filarial worms in their blood. Further studies also revealed that filarial worms were not found in the blood of the volunteer donors while the positive cases (9.2%) were found in the blood of the commercial blood donors. Among the later, distribution of filariasis was highest among those that are farmers 10(43.5%), followed by commercial motorcyclists 6(26.1%), Bricklayers 3(13.0%) and the least filarial frequency was observed among traders 2(8.7%) and Lumbers 2(8.7%) respectively. This study confirms that some blood donors in Ile –Ife and its environs still harbor filarial worms in their blood and there is a tendency to infect the recipients through blood transfusion thereby spreading the infection and thus complicating the heamatological status of these recipients.