American Red Cross experience with routine testing for hepatitis B core antibody.
The implementation of routine testing of blood donations for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) has allowed the characterization of the performance of the test in a large number of samples from apparently healthy individuals. This study reports the experience of the American Red Cross in testing 2.3 million donors for anti-HBc. The test protocol reproducibly identified a distinct population of donors. The anti-HBc-positive rate varied by region of the continental United States and by the time of year. In a case-control study, 85 percent of subsequent donations from anti-HBc-positive donors were anti-HBc positive. The predictions made in an earlier pilot study regarding the performance and impact of the test were borne out.
AuBuchon
J P
JP
American Red Cross Blood Services, National Headquarters, Washington, DC.
Sandler
S G
SG
Fang
C T
CT
Dodd
R Y
RY
D001782:Blood Donors; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000635:transmission; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D012011:Red Cross; D012698:Serologic Tests; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014481:United States
D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens