occult hbv infection in rafsanjanese blood donors

HBV vaccination of HCV-infected patients with occult HBV infection and anti-HBc-positive blood donors.

Anti-HBc positivity is a frequent cause of donation rejection at blood banks. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may also occur in HBsAg-negative patients, a situation denoted occult infection. Similarly, very low levels of HBV-DNA have also been found in the sera of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, even in the absence of serum HBsAg. Initially we searched for HBV-DNA in ...

Prevalence of Occult Hepatitis B Infection among HBsAg Negative Blood Donors in Golestan Province

Background and Aims: Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is known as an important source of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. It is categorized as Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) not being present and low DNA viral load in serum. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the outbreak of anti-HBc and OBI among the HBsAg-negative donors in Golestan province. Materials and Metho...

Nucleic acid testing to detect HBV infection in blood donors.

BACKGROUND The detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in blood donors is achieved by screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and for antibodies against hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). However, donors who are positive for HBV DNA are currently not identified during the window period before seroconversion. The current use of nucleic acid testing for detection of the human immunodefic...

Detection of HBV DNA in HBsAg Negative Normal Blood Donors

Background: The risk of infection by transfusion-transmitted viruses has been reduced remarkably. However, a zero-risk blood supply is still desirable. The screening for antibody to HBc (anti-HBc) has been shown as an alternative test for the detection of HBV infection. Objective: The main aim of this study was to evaluate HBV infection markers and the potential value of anti-HBc testing of blo...

The Relationship between HBSAG and HBV DNA in HBV-Infected Blood Donors

The clinical significance of occult HBV infection

The presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative individuals is defined as occult HBV infection (OBI). OBI is related in some cases to infection with variant viruses (S-escape mutants) undetectable by HBsAg commercial kits. More frequently, however, it is due to infection with wild-type viruses that are strongly suppressed in their replication activity. OBI ma...