RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prevalence and characterization of occult hepatitis B infection among blood donors in central Saudi Arabia
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 1114
OP 1119
DO 10.15537/smj.2016.10.14705
VO 37
IS 10
A1 Alshayea, Areej I.
A1 Eid, Gamal E.
A1 El-Hazmi, Malak M.
A1 Alhetheel, Abdulkarim F.
YR 2016
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/37/10/1114.abstract
AB Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of occult hepatitis B viral infections (OBIs) among blood donors considering the clinical and epidemiological importance of identifying OBIs.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January 2011 and January 2012. Blood donors (n=8501) were screened for Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antibodies (HBcAb). All HBsAg-negative and HBcAb-positive samples were tested further for hepatitis B surface antibodies (HBsAb), hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA, and HBV genotyping.Results: Of the 8501 serum samples tested, 56 (0.7%) were positive and 8445 (99.3%) were negative for HBsAg. Among the HBsAg-negative samples, 198 (2.3%) were positive for HBcAb and these patients were suspected to have OBIs. Among the HBcAb-positive samples, 119 (60.1%) were positive while 79 (39.9%) were negative for HBsAb. Analysis of HBV-DNA for the suspected OBIs showed that 17 out of 198 samples (8.6%) yielded positive results, and all of them were HBsAb-negative. The viral load was low (<20-186 IU/mL) in all OBIs. Hepatitis B virus genotyping showed that 15 out of 17 samples (88.2%) were genotype D, and the other 2 samples (11.8%) were genotype E.Conclusion: The prevalence of OBIs among blood donors in Riyadh was 0.2%. Therefore, it is recommended that HBV molecular testing should be incorporated with serological assays for screening of blood donors.