Hepatitis B virus prevalence in first‐time blood donors in Flanders, Belgium: Impact of universal vaccination and migration

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share common risk factors. The parallel description of their frequency over time may help capture their similarities and differences. Methods Using data from the National Transfusion Center of Abidjan, we estimated the following over a 20-year period: (1) the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity at first contact; and (2) the incidence of HIV and HBsAg seroconversion in negative first-time blood donors. Results Between 1992 and 2012, 422319 donors (men [M] = 74%) provided 1063825 blood donations. For first-time donors, HIV prevalence decreased from 7.1% (M = 5.9%, women [W] =11.0%) in 1992–1994 to 1.1% (M = 0.8%, W = 2.0%) in 2010–2012. Prevalence of HBsAg positivity remained stable at 10.8% (M = 11.7%, W = 7.3%) in 1992–1994 to 11.1% (M = 12.5%, W = 7.1%) in 2010–2012. Among regular donors (N = 129256), the incidence of becoming HIV or HBsAg positive, respectively, decreased from 4.9 per 100 (M = 4.5, W = 8.6) and 7.3 per 100 person-years (M = 7.8, W = 2.3) in 1992–1994 to 0.07 (M = 0.06, W = 0.11) and 0.2 per 100 person-years (M = 0.2, W = 0.2) in 2010–2012. Conclusions Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence and incidence decreased dramatically over time, whereas HBV prevalence remained stable. Incidence of HBsAg seroconversion, although decreasing, still reached unexpected levels, suggesting that the risk of HBV infection in adults may be higher than expected. Hepatitis B surface antigen-negative blood-donors should be offered HBV vaccination.

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P.493 Significant reduction of hepatitis B virus prevalence in blood donors referred to Ahwaz blood transfusion service in 2005 (Iran)

Journal of Clinical Virology ◽

10.1016/s1386-6532(06)80666-9 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. S213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Torabi Zadeh Maatoghi ◽

M. Jalali Far ◽

B. Kiani ◽

B. Keykhaei ◽

L. Mirzaii ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B Virus ◽

Blood Transfusion ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Blood Donors ◽

Virus Prevalence ◽

B Virus ◽

Blood Transfusion Service

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Effect of selective vaccination on a decrease in the rate of hepatitis B virus-positive Japanese first-time blood donors

Transfusion Medicine ◽

10.1111/j.1365-3148.2009.00930.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 172-179 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

A. Yoshikawa ◽

K. Suzuki ◽

A. Abe ◽

T. Tanaka ◽

K. Yamaguchi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B Virus ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Blood Donors ◽

B Virus ◽

First Time ◽

Selective Vaccination

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Comparison of Epidemiological Methods for Estimation of Hepatitis B Incidence and Residual Risk for Blood Donors in Southern Brazil

Journal of Transfusion ◽

10.4061/2011/985383 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Emil Kupek ◽

Andrea Petry

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B Virus ◽

Blood Transfusion ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Blood Donors ◽

Residual Risk ◽

Epidemiological Methods ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

B Virus ◽

First Time ◽

Hbv Transmission

Background and Objective. The objective of this work was to compare three methods for estimating hepatitis B virus (HBV) incidence and residual risk. Methods. Computerized blood donor records in southern Brazil were examined for the period 2004–2006. The methods for estimating HBV incidence included stand-alone HBsAg, HBsAg yield method, and an extension of the latter which added recent anti-HBc seroconversions as incident HBV cases. Results. HBV incidences for the above methods were 9.91, 20.09, and 22.93 per 100000 repeat donors, respectively. In the same order, corresponding residual risks were 1 : 62482, 1 : 30821, and 1 : 47559, respectively. First-time donors had 52 higher HBV incidence compared to repeat donors. Conclusion. Although the three methods compared produced overlapping 95% confidence intervals, their variation was considerably lower for the method which included recent anti-HBc seroconversions. First-time donors are primary cause for concern regarding HBV transmission via blood transfusion in southern Brazil.

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Frequency and load of hepatitis B virus DNA in first-time blood donors with antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2002-03-0798 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 100 (7) ◽

pp. 2637-2641 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

Holger Hennig ◽

Ines Puchta ◽

Jürgen Luhm ◽

Peter Schlenke ◽

Siegfried Goerg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis B Virus ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Blood Donors ◽

Hbv Dna ◽

World Health ◽

Core Antigen ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Blood Donations ◽

B Virus ◽

First Time

The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and load of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in anti-HBc–positive first-time blood donors; it was designed to contribute to determining whether anti-HBc screening of blood donations might reduce the residual risk of posttransfusion HBV infection. A total of 14 251 first-time blood donors were tested for anti-HBc using a microparticle enzyme immunoassay; positive results were confirmed by a second enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For the detection of HBV DNA from plasma samples, we developed a novel and highly sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The 95% detection limit of the method amounted to 27.8 IU/mL, consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) international standard for HBV DNA. A total of 216 blood donors (1.52%) tested anti-HBc–positive in both tests, and 205 of them (16 HBsAg+, 189 HBsAg−) were tested for HBV DNA. In 14 (87.5%) of the HBsAg-positive blood donors, HBV DNA was repeatedly detected, and in 3 (1.59%) of the HBsAg-negative donors, HBV DNA was also found repeatedly. In the 3 HBV DNA–positive, HBsAg-negative cases, anti-HBe and anti-HBs (> 100 IU/L) were also detectable. HBV DNA in HBsAg-negative as well as HBsAg-positive samples was seen at a low level. Thus, HBV DNA is sometimes found in HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc–positive, and anti-HBs–positive donors. Retrospective studies on regular blood donors and recipients are necessary to determine the infection rate due to those donations. Routine anti-HBc screening of blood donations could probably prevent some transfusion-transmitted HBV infections.

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