Hepatitis B Virus Prevalence In Chinese Blood Donors: Hbsag-Reactive Rates From Pre-Donation Rapid Test And Post-Donation Screening Test

Objective The aim of this study is to perform HBsAg neutralization( NT) on pre-donation rapid HBsAg test reactive samples as well as post-donation screening reactive samples to provide a more accurate estimate of HBV prevalence among Chinese blood donors. Methods Rapid HBs Ag test is done on blood collected by finger stick. From June to August2015,donors with pre-donation HBsAg RT reactive results at Mianyang blood center were asked to give a venous blood sample for HBsAg CT. Samples from consented donors were subjected to HBsAg NT for confirmation of HBV infection. Post-donation HBsAg screening and CT results were collected from blood center database. HBsAgCT positive rates for pre-donation and post-donation HBsAg reactive donors were used for the prevalence estimate. Results From June to August,59. 4 % of all pre-donation HBsAg RT reactive samples were tested by CT with95. 5% CT positive rates in Mianyang. From post-donation screening reactive samples during the same period,249 out of422( 59.0%) were NT confirmed positive. In 2015,a total number of 45 424 donors,including 422 HBsAg RT positive donors,attempted to donate whole blood in Mianyang blood center.The estimated overall HBV prevalence in blood donors was 1. 44%. Conclusion The HBsAg pre-donation rapid test has been effective in preventing donations to be collected from HBV infected donors. The current rapid test method appears to have high sensitivity. At the same time,some HBV infected donors escape the rapid test and can be detected by post-donation HBsAg screening. Chinese blood centers do not routinely perform confirmatory testing for HBsAg. Our study is one of the first to provide estimate of HBV prevalence among Chinese blood donors by combining confirmatory results from both HBsAg predonation deferrals with post-donation HBsAg test reactive donors. Our results and study approach help to improve our understanding of the current risk of HB infection through blood transfusion in China and provide an investigation model for further HBV prevalence studies in Chinese blood donors.