Abstract
Occult HBV infection is defined as the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in blood or liver tissues in patients negative for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg). Those patients may or may not be positive for HBV antibodies. The objective of this study is to determine the presence or absence of HBV DNA in the serum samples from HBsAg negative blood donors. In addition we aimed to assess the magnitude of occult HBV infection and to reduce the risk of HBV infection. Over a period of one year a total of 7340 blood units were collected at blood transfusion center in our locality for the prevalence of HBV infection and 180 HBsAg negative blood specimens were randomly selected for anti-HBcIgM, anti-HBs antibody and HBV DNA. Ninety seven out of 7340 collected blood units were positive for HbsAg (1.3%).The randomly selected 180 tested donors revealed 7 (3.8%) positive for antiHBc IgM and 34 (18.8%) were positive for anti-HBs antibodies. Four out of 7 positive for anti-HBc IgM were also positive for anti-HBs and 2/180 (1.1%) specimens were positive for HBV DNA by PCR. Anti-HBc antibody should be tested routinely at any blood transfusion center and if they were positive regardless of anti-HBs titer, the blood should be discarded. Also HBV DNA is preferable to be performed to all blood donors to present completely safe blood transfusion.
Highlights
Current serological screening for blood-borne hepatitis viruses has reduced the risk of post-transfusion hepatitis dramatically
Occult HBV infection is defined as the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in blood or liver tissues in patients negative for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg)
Over a period of one year a total of 7340 blood units were collected at blood transfusion center in our locality for the prevalence of HBV infection and 180 HBsAg negative blood specimens were randomly selected for anti-HBcIgM, anti-HBs antibody and HBV DNA
Summary
Current serological screening for blood-borne hepatitis viruses has reduced the risk of post-transfusion hepatitis dramatically. Among the three viral infections routinely tested in blood; hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the residual transmission risk is highest for HBV [1,2]. This is attributed to the interval between initial HBV infection and the detection of HBsAg, resulting in a long window phase during which the virus is transmissible [3]. It is possible that donors with occult HBV infection, who lack detectable HBsAg whose exposure to HBV infection indicated by positive anti-HBc antibodies against HBV core antigen and HBV DNA are a potential source of HBV infection [6]. On the other hand in some areas occult HBV infection has not been detected [11,12]
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