To evaluate the risk of probable iatrogenic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection following transfusion of donor blood that has not been screened for HCV.

Screening for human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus is routine in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. HCV screening was performed on transfused bags of donor blood selected at random. The detection of anti-HCV was based on the principle of double antigen sandwich immunoassay, in which purified recombinant antigens are employed sufficiently to identify anti-HCV. The outcomes of interest included the proportion of HCVpositive units of transfused donor blood, the source of blood and the total number of units of blood processed in the hospital blood bank.

Risk of transfusiontransmitted hepatitis C virus in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria