Jutavijittum P, Andernach IE, Yousukh A, Samountry B, Samountry K, Thammavong T, Keokhamphue J, Toriyama K, Muller CP. Occult hepatitis B infections among blood donors in Lao PDR.
Vox Sang 2013;
106:31-7. [PMID:
23931585 DOI:
10.1111/vox.12073]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Revised: 07/01/2013] [Accepted: 07/02/2013] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
In Lao People's Democratic Republic, hepatitis B virus is highly endemic. However, blood donations are only screened for HBsAg, leaving a risk of transmission by HBsAg-negative occult infected donors. Here, we characterized first-time blood donors to assess prevalence of hepatitis B virus infections and occult infected donors.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Sera were screened for HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBs, anti-HBc and anti-HBe antibodies. Occult HBV infections (OBIs) were assessed in HBsAg-negative sera by PCR, and sera of HBsAg positive and occult infected donors were phylogenetically characterized.
RESULTS
9·6% of the donors were HBsAg positive, and 45.5% were positive for at least one of the hepatitis B virus serum markers. More than 40% HBsAg carriers were HBeAg positive, with HBeAg seroconversion occurring around 30 years of age. Furthermore, 10·9% of HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc and/or anti-HBs-positive donors were occult infected with hepatitis B virus. Thus, at least 3·9% of blood donations would potentially be unsafe, but hepatitis B virus DNA copy numbers greatly varied between donors.
CONCLUSION
In Lao People's Democratic Republic, a sizable proportion of HBsAg-negative and anti-HBc antibody-positive blood donations are potentially DNA positive and infective for hepatitis B.
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