Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

Abstract

Identification of Occult Hepatitis B Infection (OBI) among Blood Donors at Aseer Southern Region in Saudi Arabia

Asra Khanum MD, Ahmad M Alamri PhD, Abdurrahman M Alshehri, Abdulaziz S Alsabrah, Mohammed S Alshehri, Galib M Albahja and Fahad S Alshehri PhD*

Background: Hepatitis B infection (HBV) and other transfusion-transmitted viruses remain a major concern in transfusion medicine. Blood transfusions can spread Occult HBV Infection (OBI), but the prevalence is limited. OBIs in donors have been obvious after blood transfusion organizations began using sensitive HBV Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Nucleic Acid Amplification Technique (NAT) screening. Residual risk assessments may not accurately predict transfusion-related OBI infection rates. Several nations now use HBV DNA confirmatory Nucleic Acid Tests (NATs).

Materials and methods: In this study, we screened blood donors in the “Aseer” Province of Saudi Arabia for HBV DNA, anti-HBc, and HBV surface Antigen (HBsAg) to determine the prevalence and annual trends of OBI infection. The present study was conducted from January 2022 to December 2022.

Results and discussion: Total blood samples for donation in year 2022 from January to December were 28232 donors from 18 hospitals of “Aseer” Region. The total of HBs Ag positive samples was (133; 0.47), Anti HBc reactive samples were (908; 3.21%), only 16 donor’s samples were tested reactive for HBV DNA by NAT. The OBI cases detected from this population were only (16; 18%) and (6; 37.50%) were examined as seropositive OBI and (10; 62.50%) were detected as a seronegative OBI.

Conclusion: Based on our research findings, the prevalence of Occult Blood Infections (OBI) among blood donors in the “Aseer” region not a statistically significant however, we need to avoid the transmission of these limited OBI cases in the general population by strict regulation from the preventive medicine department in the region.

Published Date: 2024-01-17; Received Date: 2023-12-11