Hepatitis B virus infection in blood donors in Argentina: prevalence of infection, genotype distribution and frequency of occult HBV infection

• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-016-2960-2
• Publication Date: 2016-07-06T12:02:14Z
• Authors: María Belén Pisano; Sebastián Blanco; Horacio Carrizo; Viviana Elizabeth Ré; Sandra Gallego
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Hepatitis B virus; Genotype; Argentina; Blood Donors; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6; HBV; Prevalence; Humans; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; 0303 health sciences; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; Middle Aged; Hepatitis B; GENOTYPE; PREVALENCE; 3. Good health; DNA, Viral; Female; BLOOD BANK; NAT

This study describes the prevalence of HBV infection based on detection of HBsAg and HBV-DNA by NAT in 70,102 blood donors in Argentina (Córdoba province) and shows the viral genotype distribution and frequency of occult HBV infection (OBI) in this population. Forty-two donors were confirmed positive for HBV infection (0.06 %), and four had OBI. Genotype F was the most prevalent (71.4 %), followed by A (14.3 %), C (7.1 %) and D (7.1 %). This is the first report of the prevalence of confirmed HBV infection and the high frequency of occult HBV infection in a blood bank in Argentina.