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Blood donation screening for hepatitis B virus core antibodies: The importance of confirmatory testing and initial implication for rare blood donor groups

Fu, Michael X; Ingram, Jennifer; Roberts, Courtney; Nurmi, Visa; Watkins, Emma; Dempsey, Nina; Golubchik, Tanya; ... Harvala, Heli; + view all (2024) Blood donation screening for hepatitis B virus core antibodies: The importance of confirmatory testing and initial implication for rare blood donor groups. Vox Sanguinis 10.1111/vox.13608. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Exclusion of blood donors with hepatitis B virus (HBV) core antibodies (anti-HBc) prevents transfusion-transmitted HBV infection but can lead to significant donor loss. As isolated anti-HBc positivity does not always indicate true past HBV infection, we have investigated the effectiveness of confirmatory anti-HBc testing and the representation of rare blood groups in anti-HBc-positive donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred ninety-seven HBV surface antigen-negative and anti-HBc initially reactive blood donor samples were tested by five different anti-HBc assays. RESULTS: Eighty percentage of samples reactive in Architect anti-HBc assay were positive by the Murex assay and anti-HBc neutralization. Eleven out of 397 samples showed discordant results in supplementary testing from the Murex confirmatory test result, and five remained undetermined following extensive serological testing. Thirty-eight percentage of anti-HBc-positive donors identified as minority ethnic groups compared with 11% representation in anti-HBc-negative donors (p < 0.0001); the frequency of the Ro blood group in anti-HBc-positive donors was 18 times higher in non-white ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: Using two anti-HBc assays effectively enabled the identification of HBV-exposed and potentially infectious donors, their deferral and potential clinical follow-up. However, the exclusion of confirmed anti-HBc-positive donors will still impact the supply of rare blood such as Ro.

Type: Article
Title: Blood donation screening for hepatitis B virus core antibodies: The importance of confirmatory testing and initial implication for rare blood donor groups
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/vox.13608
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/vox.13608
Language: English
Additional information: © 2024 The Authors. Vox Sanguinis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Blood Transfusion. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189966
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