Marked reduction in the incidence of transfusion‐transmitted hepatitis B virus infection after the introduction of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen and individual donation nucleic acid amplification screening in Japan

• DOI: 10.1111/trf.17546
• Publication Date: 2023-09-28T10:09:17Z
• Authors: Ami Tanaka; Naoji Yamagishi; Takashi Hasegawa; Keiko Miyakawa; Naoko Goto; Keiji Matsubayashi; Masahiro Satake
• Keywords: Window period; Nat; Hepatitis B

Abstract Background In Japan, 41 million blood donations have been screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV) during the past 8.4 years using individual donation nucleic acid amplification testing (ID‐NAT) and antibody to core antigen (anti‐HBc) screening. Study Design Methods Transfusion‐transmitted HBV infection (TT‐HBV) incidence was examined. Donated implicated in TT‐HBV analyzed stage DNA levels. Causative strains were phylogenetically analyzed. Results Among 5162 (0.013%) ID‐NAT positives, window period (WP) occult (OBI) accounted 3.4% (176) 11.5% (594), respectively. No OBI‐related occurred. Seven caused eight cases, six of which pre‐ID‐NAT WP, leaving one with an unresolved stage. cases by platelet concentrate (180 mL plasma) case fresh‐frozen plasma (200 plasma), contained estimated infectious doses varying between 2 2300 virions. subgenotypes five HBV/A2. Complete genome sequences transmitting A2 nearly identical (99.6%–100%) clustered a group that included HBV/HIV‐1 coinfections higher proportion donors acute phase (69%) than other HBV/A2 (5%). Discussion The observed has significantly reduced 0.19 per screening period. eliminated anti‐HBc Established products large volumes containing extremely low concentrations derived from at very early