Evidence of Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Omani Blood Donors: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA among a selected group of Omani blood donors. Materials and Methods: Two hundred HBsAg-negative donors were screened for anti-HBc. Those found to be positive were investigated for HBV DNA by polymerase chain reaction. HBsAg was retested on these sera following an immune complex dissociation technique. Results: HBsAg was present in 2.8% of the donors. Forty-one out of 200 (20.5%) HBsAg-negative donors were positive for anti-HBc. Eleven were positive for HBsAg after dissociation, whereas 8 gave readings just over the cutoff. HBV DNA was not detected in this group. Conclusion: Findings indicate that testing donors for HBsAg alone is not sufficient to eliminate HBV from the blood supply in Oman.

Serological pattern of hepatitis B virus among HBsAg negative blood donors in Alexandria, Egypt

“…Meanwhile, the logistic regression analysis showed that history of blood transfusion was one of the independent risk factors for HBV infection. This latter finding matches well with other published data [11]. It has been reported that despite continued improvements in the selection criteria of blood bank donors and of the applied serological tests protocol in sample evaluation, the transmission of HBV infection by blood transfusion still occurs in a proportion of cases even if the transfused blood tested negative for HBsAg using highly sensitive assays [12].…”

“…It is a marker of acute, chronic or resolved infection and remains detectable for life [14]. The reported prevalence of anti-HBc markers among donors at blood banks varies in other published studies depending on the local prevalence of HBV, ranging from 0.4% in low-endemic areas to 70% in high-endemic areas [11,[15][16][17].…”

“…These cases were considered to be previously infected and to have become immune to HBV infection, although we need to bear in mind that the degree of protection depends on the level of anti-HBs. Kaminski et al reported that 22 out of 41 donors with evidence of anti-HBc had anti-HBs level > 100 mIU/mL, a level generally considered protective against HBV infection [11]. Other investigators stressed the fact that blood components positive for anti-HBc and anti-HBs do not appear to transmit HBV and there is clearly an inverse correlation between anti-HBs level and infectivity [27].…”

Pattern of liver diseases in Oman

“…A recent study of asymptomatic adult blood donors in Oman found that 20% had evidence of earlier infection by hepatitis B with only 2.5% showing HbsAg positivity at the time of testing. 18 Our study was small and not community-based, therefore little inference can be drawn regarding the prevalence of hepatitis B in Omani children.…”

Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection

“…Bu nedenle HBsAg testlerinin duyarlılığını artırmak amacıyla Chemiluminescence Immunassay (CLIA), HBsAg yoğunlaştırma ve immünkompleks ayrıştırması gibi yöntemler ile ilgili çalışmalar yapılmakta veya uygulanmaktadır [61][62][63]. OHB'nin özellikle transfüzyon ile HBV bulaşına neden olabileceği bilinmektedir ve HBsAg testlerinde yenilikler olsa da HBV belirteci olarak tarama testlerinde HBsAg'nin kullanımında bazı problemler oluşabilir.…”