Evidence of occult hepatitis B virus infection among Omani blood donors: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA among a selected group of Omani blood donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred HBsAg-negative donors were screened for anti-HBc. Those found to be positive were investigated for HBV DNA by polymerase chain reaction. HBsAg was retested on these sera following an immune complex dissociation technique. RESULTS HBsAg was present in 2.8% of the donors. Forty-one out of 200 (20.5%) HBsAg-negative donors were positive for anti-HBc. Eleven were positive for HBsAg after dissociation, whereas 8 gave readings just over the cutoff. HBV DNA was not detected in this group. CONCLUSION Findings indicate that testing donors for HBsAg alone is not sufficient to eliminate HBV from the blood supply in Oman.