Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection Among Blood Donors at National Blood Bank of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Date
2021-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is a persistent Hepatitis B virus infection in which serological test fails to detect surface antigen, but viral DNA is detectable at a low level. The HBV screening for blood transfusion is still based only on HBsAg. As a result, OBI remains a potential threat for blood safety. Thus far, there is no data on the magnitude of occult hepatitis
among blood donors. Therefore, this study sought to determine the magnitude of occult hepatitis B virus among apparently healthy blood donors in Ethiopia.
Objectives: To study the magnitude of OBI and associated risk factors among blood donors at National Blood Bank, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2020 to April 2021 to determine the prevalence of OBI among blood donors. A total of 973 HBsAg negative plasma samples were collected from National Blood Bank. The samples were tested for anti-HBc using an ELISA and viral DNA using quantitative real time PCR [Abbot m2000rt]. Along with plasma samples, demographic data were also retrieved from donor‟s database. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was employed for the analysis of data by SPSS 15. P-value less than (0.05) were considered as statistically significant.
Results: Of the total 973 apparently healthy blood donor study participants, 445 (45.7%) were females and mean age was 26.5 years. A total of 144 of the 973 blood samples were anti-HBc reactive (14.8%). Four (0.41% of all and 2.7% of anti HBc+ donations) samples were confirmed as OBI by DNA detection. The mean viral load was 31IU/ml with +/- 12 SD suggesting true
occult hepatitis BV infections. Age was found to be risk factors for anti-core positivity and statically significant at (p=0.0001).
Conclusion: About 4 in 1000 apparently healthy blood donors screened negative for HBsAg had occult HBV infection. This shows that there is a risk of HBV transmission through blood transfusion in Ethiopia. Therefore, there is a need for further investigation and action to revise blood screening strategy including anti-HBc and HBV nucleic acid testing.
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Keywords
Occult Hepatitis B infection, Hepatitis B virus, Blood donors