Evaluation of a new West Nile virus nucleic acid test for screening of blood donations

Stanley, Jean; AuBuchon, James P.; Erickson, Yasuko; Waxman, Dan A.; Williamson, Phillip; Bertuzis, Rasa; Huynh, Nancy; Duncan, J.R.; Dyer, Nicole; Pate, Lisa Lee; Galel, Susan A.

doi:10.1111/trf.15022

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Results were compared with the commercially available Cobas WNV Test on the Cobas 6800 System (Roche). Besides WNV, this assay detects other relevant flaviviruses including USUV with high sensitivity . Ten‐fold dilution series of culture supernatant of a blackbird USUV strain (Netherlands 2016, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands), containing approximately 10 9 USUV virions/mL, were prepared and tested in duplicate using the in‐house and commercial PCR assays.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usutu virus infection in Dutch blood donors

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND The screening of Dutch blood donations for West Nile virus (WNV) may be imminent, as WNV emerges in nearby countries and more donors travel to WNV‐affected regions. Since 2016 the related, mosquito‐borne Usutu virus (USUV) causes seasonal mortality in Dutch birds. To what extent will human USUV infections affect Dutch WNV donor screening? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS From April through September 2018, plasma samples from blood donations in blackbird‐rich regions were stored. When increased bird mortality was reported in August, samples from July, August, and September were tested for USUV‐RNA in pools of eight, using a home‐brew combined WNV/USUV‐PCR assay. Reactive pools were deconstructed. Original plasma units and samples of previous and follow‐up donations of reactive donors were tested for USUV‐ and WNV‐RNA, and for antibody responses. RESULTS The number of USUV RNA‐positive, WNV RNA‐negative donations was 0 of 2688 donations in July, 6 of 4416 in August (1:736), and 1 of 4936 in September. The seven infected donors tested negative for USUV‐RNA in preceding and follow‐up donations. For 6 donors, seroconversion for USUV‐antibodies was demonstrated. All index donations tested positive in a commonly used PCR‐assay for WNV donor screening. Three exposed recipients did not show signs of infection. Screening a random subset of 1092 donations from September for USUV‐IgG antibodies showed that 22 donors tested reactive; for three donors retrospective testing identified an USUV PCR‐positive pre‐seroconversion donation. CONCLUSION Seasonal USUV infection in Dutch blood donors is common. Cross‐reactivity in molecular assays for WNV‐screening occurs, but can be resolved using USUV‐ and WNV‐specific PCR‐primers and sequencing of viral RNA.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usutu virus infection in Dutch blood donors

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We hypothesize that vaccine‐derived, residual, inactivated, replication‐incompetent JEV RNA fragments present in donor blood specimens collected at the time of donation could have caused positive Roche WNV NAT results (Table ). These results are not unexpected as this assay has been shown to also detect JEV as well as other members of the JEV serocomplex . All Ixiaro JEV vaccine detections occurred after the first dose of a two‐dose vaccine series.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…The Roche WNV assay is a real‐time reverse transcriptase polymerase assay (rRT‐PCR) for use on the cobas 6800/8800 system (Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.). This assay has been shown to be broadly reactive against members of the JEV serocomplex as listed above, and this inclusivity has the potential for improving blood safety . A more limited detection inclusivity has also been identified in the Procleix Tigris WNV (Novartis Diagnostics), a transcription mediated amplification (TMA) assay which has also been shown to detect Usutu virus .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A case series of inactivated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccination associated with positive West Nile virus blood donor screening nucleic acid tests

Drews

Makowski²,

Wood³

et al. 2020

Transfusion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND: West Nile Virus (WNV) is a member of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) serocomplex within the Flaviviridae family. We report four whole blood donors and one plasma donor with WNV nucleic acid test (NAT)-reactive donations between September 2018 and November 2019, following recent Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccination.CASE SERIES: Cases 1 and 4 had reactive WNV NAT donations 1 day after receiving the JEV vaccine. Case 2 had a reactive WNV donation 3 days after receiving the JEV vaccine. Case 3 had a reactive WNV NAT donation 3 days after returning from Arizona and 1 day after receiving the JEV vaccine. Case 5 had a reactive WNV donation the same day as receiving the JEV vaccine.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: WNV screening used the Roche cobas WNV nucleic acid test (NAT) (Roche Molecular Systems). Reference testing on WNV-reactive donations was carried out by the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML). JEV vaccine dilutions were also analyzed. RESULTS: Supplemental NAT was negative for WNVand JEV for Cases 1, 3, and 5. Case 2 had a weak amplification curve for one of two JEV NAT targets. Case 4 was JEV NAT-positive, WNV NAT-negative. Serologic testing on donation specimens for Cases 2, 4, and 5 did not support recent or remote WNV infection. JEV vaccine dilutions were detected by both cobas and supplemental NAT. CONCLUSIONS:We recommend implementing a temporary blood donor deferral following a JEV vaccination, if screening utilizes a WNV assay with the capability of detecting other members of the JE serocomplex.From the 1 Canadian Blood Services; the

show abstract

West Nile virus activity in United States blood donors and optimizing detection strategies: 2014‐2018

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUNDRare transfusion‐transmitted West Nile virus (WNV) cases usually occur due to gaps in testing involving converting to more sensitive nucleic acid testing (NAT) formats (referred to as triggering). Using data from 2014 to 2018, we investigated a strategy used to increase detection early in the triggering period and reviewed its yield as the individual donation (ID)‐NAT geographic area was decreased.METHODSMini‐pool–NAT transitioned to ID‐NAT following triggering based on one WNV NAT–reactive donation (having an elevated signal, repeat reactive, or in an area with WNV ongoing activity). ID‐NAT–triggered geographic areas included an entire state (2014‐2017) or collections within a 50‐mile radius of the triggering donor's residential zip code (2018). During the MP‐ to ID‐NAT transition, donation samples were retrieved and tested by ID‐NAT for those with results not yet released (referred to as in‐process testing). Reactive sample confirmation was performed by repeat NAT of an independent sample or antibody testing.RESULTSID‐NAT included 3.2 million donations of more than 25 million tested year‐round, resulting in 684 confirmed positives; all confirmed‐positive donations occurred from June to December (0.64/10,000). Overall, 52% (358/684) required ID‐NAT for detection, including 68 (19%) antibody negatives. Ten of 19 (53%) identified in‐process were ID‐NAT–only detectable, including four antibody negatives, or approximately 1 per year (2.8% of ID‐NAT–only detectable). With reduced triggering geography, 12 of 19 (63%) were not identified (including 6/10 ID‐NAT–only detectable, and 2/4 ID‐NAT–only detectable/antibody negative).CONCLUSIONWNV NAT's utility is between June–December; however, abandoning testing outside of this time may increase risk. While in‐process testing identified approximately one ID‐NAT–only detectable (antibody‐negative) donation per year, reducing the geographic triggered area decreased its effectiveness.

show abstract

Evaluation of a new West Nile virus nucleic acid test for screening of blood donations

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Usutu virus infection in Dutch blood donors

Usutu virus infection in Dutch blood donors

A case series of inactivated Japanese encephalitis virus vaccination associated with positive West Nile virus blood donor screening nucleic acid tests

West Nile virus activity in United States blood donors and optimizing detection strategies: 2014‐2018

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About