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Yu RT, Punzalan KAP, Bhatnagar S, Lutero RB, Chamen IMS, Masangkay CB, Arcellana-Nuqui EY. Seroreactivity of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen among hepatitis B surface antigen-screened negative blood donors and its implications for blood safety in a resource-constrained country. Vox Sang 2024; 119:252-256. [PMID: 38245853 DOI: 10.1111/vox.13576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Transfusion-related hepatitis B infections have been reduced significantly with the implementation of blood screening using both serology and nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) in developed countries. However, in resource-constrained countries, where NAT is inaccessible, the risk persists from early acute and occult cases. This study aimed to determine the antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) reactive rate among hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-screened negative blood donors and its impact on blood safety in the Philippines. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 1602 HBsAg-negative samples, randomly collected from nine leading blood service facilities representative of each region in the Philippines, were tested for anti-HBc immunoglobulin M (IgM), Total and antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) using the Architect i2000SR Immunoassay Analyser (Abbott Laboratories, IL). Anti-HBc IgM and/or Total repeat reactive were further tested for hepatitis B virus (HBV) NAT using the Cobas TaqScreen MPX v2.0 (Roche Diagnostics, Basel). RESULTS Overall, 19.16% HBsAg-negative samples (n = 307/1602) were reactive for either anti-HBc IgM or Total or a combination of both, of which 1.3% (n = 4/307) had detectable HBV-DNA and 80.5% (n = 247/307) were anti-HBs positive. About the anti-HBs titres, 30.27% (n = 485/1602) were positive (≥10 IU/L) with 55.67% (n = 270/485) having titres ≥100 IU/L. Anti-HBs-only-positive samples were 14.85% (n = 238/1602). CONCLUSION We observed a high anti-HBc reactive rate (19.16%) with 3.7% anti-HBc-only reactive (anti-HBs negative) and 1.3% HBV-DNA positive. This warrants the need to reconsider existing screening practices to improve blood safety in the country.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhoda T Yu
- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
| | | | | | - Raymond B Lutero
- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
| | - Iza Mae S Chamen
- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa City, Philippines
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Blanco S, Castro GM, Sicilia PE, Carrizo LH, Gallego SV. Breakthrough infection by hepatitis B virus in a vaccinated blood donor: An emerging threat for transfusion safety in low-endemic countries? J Med Virol 2024; 96:e29463. [PMID: 38345135 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.29463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
We present the case of a breakthrough infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV), intending to warn about the challenge that HBV represents for transfusion safety. Virological markers for HBV infection were assayed during a blood donor screening by detection of HBsAg, anti-HBc, and viral nucleic acid (HBV DNA) by a nucleic acid test (NAT). Additionally, samples were analyzed for detection of immunoglobulin M anti-HBc, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and anti-HBs. A first-time donor repeatedly tested positive for HBV DNA by NAT and nonreactive for HBV-serological markers of infection. He stated having completed the anti-HBV vaccination schedule; thus, study of anti-Hbs resulted in reactive at protective level (18 mIU/mL). The donor denied clinical symptoms of hepatitis and remained healthy during the follow-up period. 95 days postdonation, NAT was negative, seroconversion of anti-HBc ab was detected, and a significant increase in anti-HBs concentration was measured (>1000 mIU/mL). This is the first case of HBV-breakthrough infection reported in Argentina and to our knowledge, this potential threat to transfusion safety is novel in an HBV low-endemic region with high coverage of HBV vaccination. The occurrence of breakthrough infections challenges the current protocols for the identification of HBV-infected subjects, could be a source of silent HBV transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastián Blanco
- Fundación Banco Central de Sangre, Córdoba, Argentina
- Instituto de Virología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Gonzalo M Castro
- Instituto de Virología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Departamento Laboratorio Central, Ministerio de Salud de la Provincia de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Paola E Sicilia
- Instituto de Virología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | | | - Sandra V Gallego
- Fundación Banco Central de Sangre, Córdoba, Argentina
- Instituto de Virología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Tanaka A, Yamagishi N, Hasegawa T, Miyakawa K, Goto N, Matsubayashi K, Satake M. Marked reduction in the incidence of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis B virus infection after the introduction of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen and individual donation nucleic acid amplification screening in Japan. Transfusion 2023; 63:2083-2097. [PMID: 37767806 DOI: 10.1111/trf.17546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Japan, 41 million blood donations have been screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV) during the past 8.4 years using individual donation nucleic acid amplification testing (ID-NAT) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) screening. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Transfusion-transmitted HBV infection (TT-HBV) incidence was examined. Donated blood implicated in TT-HBV was analyzed for infection stage and DNA levels. Causative HBV strains were phylogenetically analyzed. RESULTS Among 5162 (0.013%) ID-NAT positives, window period (WP) and occult HBV infection (OBI) accounted for 3.4% (176) and 11.5% (594), respectively. No OBI-related TT-HBV occurred. Seven blood donations caused eight TT-HBV cases, six of which were in the pre-ID-NAT WP, leaving one with an unresolved infection stage. Seven cases were caused by platelet concentrate (180 mL plasma) and one case by fresh-frozen plasma (200 mL plasma), which contained estimated infectious doses varying between 2 and 2300 HBV virions. HBV subgenotypes in five cases were HBV/A2. Complete genome sequences of the transmitting A2 strains were nearly identical (99.6%-100%) and clustered in a group that included HBV/HIV-1 coinfections and a higher proportion of donors in the acute infection phase (69%) than the other group of HBV/A2 sequences (5%). DISCUSSION The incidence of observed TT-HBV cases has significantly reduced to 0.19 per million in the ID-NAT screening period. OBI-related TT-HBV was eliminated by anti-HBc screening. Established TT-HBV cases were caused by blood products with large plasma volumes containing extremely low HBV concentrations derived from blood donors at a very early infection stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ami Tanaka
- Central Blood Institute, Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naoji Yamagishi
- Central Blood Institute, Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takashi Hasegawa
- Central Blood Institute, Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Keiko Miyakawa
- Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naoko Goto
- Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Keiji Matsubayashi
- Central Blood Institute, Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masahiro Satake
- Central Blood Institute, Blood Service Headquarters, Japanese Red Cross Society, Tokyo, Japan
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Chen J, Ma Z, Wu D, Zuo Q, Wang F, Xiao C, Chen F, Li P. Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of low-level HBV DNA screening in occult hepatitis B infection donors: A study from Shandong Blood Center, China. Heliyon 2023; 9:e18609. [PMID: 37560659 PMCID: PMC10407207 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the efficacy of individual-donation nucleic acid testing (ID-NAT) in detecting occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) among anti-HBc positive blood donors, compared to minipool nucleic acid testing (MP-NAT). METHODS The present study analyzed data from the Shandong Blood Center in China during the period from January 2018 to June 2022, where HBsAg-negative blood donors were screened using the 6-sample minipool nucleic acid testing (6-sample MP NAT) method. NAT-positive samples underwent subsequent anti-HBc and anti-HBs testing. Approximately 5000 samples that passed the nucleic acid mixing test were randomly selected for anti-HBc testing, and over 100 anti-HBc positive samples underwent individual donor nucleic acid testing (ID-NAT). Any HBV DNA positive samples detected by ID-NAT were subsequently confirmed using alternative nucleic acid testing methods. RESULTS Among 220,445 HBsAg-negative blood donors, the positivity rate of HBV DNA detection using the 6-sample minipool nucleic acid testing (MP NAT) method was found to be 0.031% (69/220,445). Of the 67 HBV DNA positive samples, 55 (82.09%) and 25 (37.31%) were found to be positive for anti-HBc and anti-HBs, respectively, using the supplementary chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA). Among the 4797 HBsAg-negative/MP NAT-negative samples, 909 (18.95%) tested positive for anti-HBc. Further NAT testing was performed on 164 arbitrarily selected anti-HBc-positive/MP HBV DNA-negative samples, revealing a HBV DNA positivity rate of 1.22% (2/164). CONCLUSION Using individual donation nucleic acid testing can significantly increase the detection rate of occult hepatitis B virus infection in anti-HBc-positive blood donors, resulting in a detection rate of 0.22% (1.22 × 0.1895). This rate is 8.10 times higher than the detection rate achieved by mixed testing methods (0.031%) [calculated as (0.22 + 0.031)/0.031]. Therefore, it is recommended to perform single HBV DNA testing on anti-HBc-positive blood donors, discard plasma with weakly positive or negative anti-HBs but positive anti-HBc, or avoid transfusing anti-HBc-positive plasma to recipients with weakly positive or negative anti-HBs to prevent HBV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfeng Chen
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Zili Ma
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Dandan Wu
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Qi Zuo
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Fengtian Wang
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Chen Xiao
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Fuqiang Chen
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
| | - Peng Li
- Blood Center of Shandong Province, No 22 Shanshi East Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China
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Ye X, Liu L, Chen L, Nie X, Huang L, Ye D, Zeng J, Li T, Li B, Xu M, Chen L. High-Frequency Notable HBV Mutations Identified in Blood Donors With Occult Hepatitis B Infection From Heyuan City of Southern China. Front Immunol 2022; 13:754383. [PMID: 35634299 PMCID: PMC9136029 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.754383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background All Chinese blood centers have implemented mini pool (MP) HBV nucleic acid testing (NAT) together with HBsAg ELISA in routine donor screening since 2015. The prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) in donors from different regions varies, and the molecular characterization of the HBV DNA and clinical outcomes of these OBIs remain largely unexplored. Methods Blood donations from Heyuan city in Southern China were screened by HBsAg ELISA and HBV MP8 NAT. Donations with HBsAg-/HBV DNA+ were collected for this study. Molecular characterizations of HBV DNAs were further analyzed by various DNA amplification assays including quantitative PCR (qPCR) and nested PCR, amplifying the basic core and pre-core promoter regions (BCP/PC). The HBsAg (S) region from HBV DNA was isolated by high-volume nucleic acid extraction. Notable mutations were identified by comparison to the HBV reference sequences. The clinical outcomes of the donors with OBIs were further followed for nearly 3 years. Results Seventy OBIs from 44,592 donations (0.15%) that we identified and reported previously were enrolled for this current study. HBV sequences were obtained from 44/70 OBIs, and genotyping analysis showed that 42/44 (95.2%) OBIs were genotype B, and 2/44 (4.8%) were genotype C. Interestingly, mutation analysis revealed that various mutations including M133L/T, F134L, P142L, V168A, R169H, S174N, L175S, and V177A of HBV DNA affecting HBsAg detection were observed in genotype B OBIs. Two notable mutations, T47K and L53S, were identified in genotype C OBIs. Follow-up studies showed that 3/31 (9.7%) OBIs converted to HBsAg+ as chronic infections while 1/31 (3.2%) HBV DNA was undetectable (classified as recovery) and 27/31 (87.1%) remained as OBIs. Conclusion Various notable mutations affecting HBsAg detection were observed in blood donors with OBIs in Heyuan city of Southern China. Follow-up studies showed that most OBIs remained as OBIs with fluctuating or low viral loads. Higher sensitive HBV ID NAT is recommended for donor screening to further reduce the transmission risk of OBIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianlin Ye
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lihua Liu
- Department of Laboratory, Heyuan Blood Center, Heyuan, China
| | - Lina Chen
- Department of Laboratory, Heyuan Blood Center, Heyuan, China
| | - Xianghui Nie
- Department of Laboratory, Heyuan Blood Center, Heyuan, China
| | - Lu Huang
- Department of Laboratory, Heyuan Blood Center, Heyuan, China
| | - Denghuang Ye
- Department of Laboratory, Heyuan Blood Center, Heyuan, China
| | - Jinfeng Zeng
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Tong Li
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Bin Li
- The Joint Laboratory on Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases (TTDs) between Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Nanning Blood Center, Nanning Blood Center, Nanning, China
- *Correspondence: Bin Li, ; Min Xu, ; Limin Chen,
| | - Min Xu
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Chengdu, China
- *Correspondence: Bin Li, ; Min Xu, ; Limin Chen,
| | - Limin Chen
- The Joint Laboratory on Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases (TTDs) between Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Nanning Blood Center, Nanning Blood Center, Nanning, China
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Chengdu, China
- *Correspondence: Bin Li, ; Min Xu, ; Limin Chen,
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Lelie N, Busch M, Kleinman S. Residual risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis B virus (TT-HBV) infection by NAT-screened blood components: A review of observed versus modeled infectivity from donors with window period and occult HBV infections. Transfusion 2021; 61:3190-3201. [PMID: 34590320 DOI: 10.1111/trf.16675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The residual transfusion-transmitted hepatitis B virus (TT-HBV) risk with different testing strategies depends on the sensitivity of screening assays, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) compared to HBV-DNA in window period (WP) and occult HBV infections (OBIs), and infectivity of blood in these infection stages. We compared modeled WP and OBI transmission risk in a multiregional individual donation nucleic acid amplification technology (ID-NAT) screening study with observed TT-HBV infection rates in several lookback studies. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS The WP and OBI risk was estimated from ID-NAT screening data in six geographic regions. The 50% infectious dose (ID50 ), a key factor in the applied risk models, was assumed to be 100-fold higher in OBI than in WP blood. The relative proportion of WP and OBI TT-risk was estimated for different screening scenarios and expressed as a percentage of the ID-NAT yield rate to allow for comparison with observed TT-rates in lookback studies. RESULTS Despite sevenfold to eightfold higher HBV ID-NAT yield rates in OBI than WP in South-East Asia and Europe, our models predicted that 40 (26-55)% of total residual TT-HBV risk was due to OBI, comparable to 37% observed in a Japanese hemovigilance study. Modeled TT-OBI risk was approximately 10-fold higher than observed rates of 2%-8% in five lookback studies but comparable to one other study (36%). CONCLUSION Although the observed TT-OBI rate was generally lower than the modeled risk, the relative risk of WP versus OBI transmission was not incompatible with the observational infectivity data. This supports the validity of our assumptions in the infectivity-based models for estimating worst-case residual risk with different testing scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nico Lelie
- Lelie Research, Alkmaar, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Busch
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA
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Ye X, Zhao Y, Li R, Li T, Zheng X, Xiong W, Zeng J, Xu M, Chen L. High Frequency Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection Detected in Non-Resolved Donations Suggests the Requirement of Anti-HBc Test in Blood Donors in Southern China. Front Immunol 2021; 12:699217. [PMID: 34394093 PMCID: PMC8355616 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.699217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Most Chinese Blood Centers adopted mini pool (MP) nucleic acid testing (NAT) for HBV screening due to high cost of Individual donation (ID) NAT, and different proportions of MP-reactive but ID-non-reactive donations (MP+/ID-, defined as non-resolved donations) have been observed during daily donor screening process. Some of these non-resolved donations are occult HBV infections (OBIs), which pose potential risk of HBV transmission if they are not deferred. This study is aimed to further analyze these non-resolved donations. Methods The non-resolved plasma samples were further analyzed by serological tests and various HBV DNA amplification assays including quantitative PCR (qPCR) and nested PCR amplifying the basic core and pre-core promoter regions (BCP/PC; 295 base pairs) and HBsAg (S) region (496 base pairs). Molecular characterizations of HBV DNA+ non-resolved samples were determined by sequencing analysis. Results Of 17,226 MPs from 103,356 seronegative blood donations, 98 MPs were detected reactive for HBV. Fifty-six out of these 98 (57.1%) reactive MPs were resolved as HBV DNA+, but the remaining 42 pools (42.9%, 252 donations) were left non-resolved with a high rate (53.2%) of anti-HBc+. Surprisingly, among 42 non-resolved MPs, 17 contained one donation identified as OBIs by alternative NAT assays. Sequence analysis on HBV DNAs extracted from these OBI donations showed some key mutations in the S region that may lead to failure in HBsAg detection and vaccine escape. Conclusion A total of 53.2% of the non-resolved donations were anti-HBc+, and OBIs were identified in 40.5% of these non-resolved pools. Therefore, non-resolved donations with anti-HBc+ might pose potential risk for HBV transmission. Our present analysis indicates that anti-HBc testing in non-resolved donations should be used to identify OBIs in order to further increase blood safety in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianlin Ye
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yu Zhao
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ran Li
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Tong Li
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xin Zheng
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wen Xiong
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jinfeng Zeng
- Department of Laboratory, Shenzhen Blood Center, Shenzhen, China
| | - Min Xu
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Transfusion-Transmitted Infectious Diseases, Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Chengdu, China
| | - Limin Chen
- Provincial Key Laboratory for Transfusion-Transmitted Infectious Diseases, Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Chengdu, China.,The Joint Laboratory on Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases (TTD) Between Institute of Blood Transfusion, Nanning Blood Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Nanning Blood Center, Nanning, China.,Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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