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H epatitis B virus DNA viral load determination in hepatitis B surface antigen–negative S wiss blood donors
Author(s) -
Stolz Martin,
Tinguely Caroline,
Fontana Stefano,
Niederhauser Christoph
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/trf.12694
Subject(s) - nat , hepatitis b virus , virology , medicine , antigen , hepatitis b , viral load , hbsag , nucleic acid test , antibody , immunology , virus , covid-19 , computer network , disease , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background Nucleic acid test ( NAT ) hepatitis B virus ( HBV ) screening for all blood donations with a sensitivity limit of 25 IU / mL in the individual donation is mandatory in S witzerland since 2009. The aims of the two studies were to define the percentage of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐ HB c) or anti‐ HB c and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti‐ HB s)‐positive donors bearing HBV DNA and to gather HBV viral load data on HBV NAT yields during the routine screening since the introduction of the HBV NAT . Study Design and Methods Archive samples from anti‐ HB c–positive donors ( G roup I ) were analyzed with a quantitative HBV DNA test and further with anti‐ HB c and anti‐ HB s assays. In addition, all the HBV NAT ‐only–yield samples ( G roup II ) from the routine donor screening performed between J uly 2007 and M ay 2013 were included in the study. Results From the 667 samples investigated (131 donors), three donors (2.3%) had donated eight samples (1.2%) with detectable HBV DNA ; however, all had very low viral loads (≤10 IU / mL ). From the 1,160,426 donations screened with the routine HBV NAT assay, 16 HBV NAT yields were detected: two window period ( WP ) and 14 occult hepatitis B infection ( OBI ) cases. In eight of these positive donations (two WP and six OBI ), the HBV viral loads were not more than 10 IU / mL , in three cases between 10 and 25 IU / mL , and in the remaining five donations between 37 and 166 IU / mL . Conclusion The highly sensitive HBV NAT assay with a threshold significantly below 10 IU / mL is a valuable alternative to anti‐ HB c and a less sensitive HBV NAT screening in blood donor screening.