%0 Journal Article
%T Anti-hepatitis B core antigen testing with detection and characterization of occult hepatitis B virus by an in-house nucleic acid testing among blood donors in Behrampur, Ganjam, Orissa in southeastern India: implications for transfusion
%A Rajesh Panigrahi
%A Avik Biswas
%A Sibnarayan Datta
%A Arup Banerjee
%A Partha K Chandra
%A Pradip K Mahapatra
%A Bharat Patnaik
%A Sekhar Chakrabarti
%A Runu Chakravarty
%J Virology Journal
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1743-422x-7-204
%X A total of 729 HBsAg negative donor units were included in this study. Surface gene and precore region were amplified by in house nucleic acid test (NAT) for detection of occult HBV infection and surface gene was analyzed after direct sequencing.A total of 220 (30.1%) HBsAg negative donors were antiHBc positive, of them 66 (30%) were HBV DNA positive by NAT. HBV DNA positivity among 164 antiHBc only group, was 27.1% and among 40 antiHBs positive group was 30.0%. HBV/D (93.3%) was predominant and prevalence of both HBV/C and HBV/A was 3.3%. Single or multiple amino acids substitutions were found in 95% samples.Thus, a considerable number of HBV infected donors remain undiagnosed, if only HBsAg is used for screening. Addition of antiHBc testing for donor screening, although will lead to rejection of a large number of donor units, will definitely eliminate HBV infected donations and help in reducing HBV transmission with its potential consequences, especially among the immunocompromised population. The HBV genetic diversity found in this donor population are in accordance with other parts of India.Detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in blood is diagnostic for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In the blood bank, screening for HBsAg is carried out routinely to detect HBV infection. Notably, donations from donors in seroconversion stage, from chronic HBV carriers with low circulating HBsAg level as well as from donors infected with some mutant HBV, may not be detected by the currently employed HBsAg assays. Thus among the common blood borne virus infections the risk of transfusion transmitted infection is highest for HBV [1]. Use of sensitive molecular assays has led to the detection of potentially infectious HBV DNA in the liver, serum, or both, in individuals without detectable HBsAg in circulation and has been termed "occult HBV infection" (OBI). It has often been explained by low levels of HBV DNA or mutations in the 'a' determinant region, (which contai
%U http://www.virologyj.com/content/7/1/204