Search

Background & Objective: Transfusion associated hepatitis B virus (TAHBV) infection continues to be a major problem despite mandatory screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). This is because HBsAg is not detected during the window period of the infection. This study was designed to assess the frequency of anti HBc antibody among HBsAg negative donor and also to determine the demographic profile of healthy blood donors. Material & Method: This cross sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, BSMMU, Dhaka during the period of May 2014 to April 2015. A total number of 100 consecutive healthy blood donors who were clinically and physically healthy and serologically found to be free from HBsAg, HCV and HIV by rapid chromographic test were included in this study. Results: Within the 100 patients among them h/o jaundice was found in 17(17.0%). There all (100.0%) subjects had negative HBsAg and 14(14.0%) subjects had positive anti HBc-Ab. Anti HBc-Ab was statistically significant (p<0.001) in Z-test. Conclusion: This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of anti HBc antibody among healthy blood donors with HBsAg negative in rapid chromatography method. The prevalence of anti HBc antibody was about 14(14.0%) among 100 HBsAg negative blood donors. H/O blood donation was found in almost two third 65(65.0%). So, anti HBc antibody screening is a useful tool for estimating the risk of transfusion transmitted HBV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Liver disease is more severe in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections and alcohol-induced liver injury. Whether the same is true for alcoholic patients with cirrhosis who have recovered from previous HBV infections remains to be determined. Objectives: To document the extent of liver disease in alcoholic patients with cirrhosis who test negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and test positive for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Methods: Two hundred fifty-four alcoholic patients with cirrhosis were divided into anti-HBc-positive (N = 171) and anti-HBc-negative (N = 83) cohorts. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical features were retrospectively analyzed. Prognostic scores and the prevalence of patients at high risk for shortterm mortality were calculated. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with an increased risk for short-term mortality. Results: Jaundice was more common in the anti-HBc-positive cohort (32.2% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.02). This cohort also had higher serum bilirubin (70.9 vs. 50.4 µm/L, p = 0.03), prothrombin times (15.6 vs. 14.4 s, p = 0.01), MELD scores (8.5 vs. 4.6, p = 0.01), i-MELD scores (28.6 vs. 24.7, p = 0.03), MDF scores (14.2 vs. 6.8, p = 0.02) and ABIC scores (7.2 vs. 6.6, p = 0.01). In addition, anti-HBC-positive patients were more often at high risk for short-term mortality (40.4% vs. 26.5%, p = 0.03). Multivariate analysis identified anti-HBc-positive status (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.10-3.36) and alcohol intake =150 g/day (OR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.10-3.66) as independent risk factors for high risk of mortality. Conclusion: The anti-HBc-positive state is associated with more advanced liver disease in alcoholic patients with cirrhosis. A prospective study including HBV-DNA testing and liver biopsies should be considered to validate and further elucidate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]