DETECTION OF ANTI-HBC AND ANTI-HBS ANTIBODIES IN BLOOD DONORS NEGATIVE

Abstract

The Objectives: safety of blood products is one of the major issues in the area of transfusion medicine. In previousstudy we found that hepatitis B virus was epidemic in some of Basrah medical institutions to assess the prevalence ofanti-HBc and anti-HBs antibodies in serum samples of healthy blood donors negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCVin the Central Blood Bank, Basrah-Iraq.Results: 204 serum samples negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV collected from healthy blood donors weretested for the presence of HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe and anti-HBc by using rapid chromatographicimmunoassay. Of the 204 samples tested, 13 (6.37%) of the HBsAg negative blood samples were found to bepositive for anti-HBc. 3(1.47%) out of 13 anti-HBc positive were found positive for anti-HBs.Conclusion: detection of anti-HBc and anti-HBs antibodies were more important than other markers in detectionof latent Hepatitis B virus infection.