title: Marseillevirus prevalence in multitransfused patients suggests blood transmission.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emerging viral infections in humans are appearing at an increasing rate. Recently, we identified a new Marseillevirus, named Giant Blood Marseillevirus (GBM), by performing viral metagenomics on asymptomatic blood donors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study and compare the prevalence of Marseillevirus between asymptomatic blood donors and thalassemia patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, we present a combined molecular and serological study on 174 asymptomatic blood donors and 22 patients with thalassemia who receive repeated blood transfusions to estimate the prevalence of Marseillevirus in these two populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified Marseillevirus genomic DNA in 4% of donors, whereas 9.1% of the thalassemia patients were positive for this virus. Moreover, IgG seropositivity was detected in 22.7% of patients in the thalassemia group, whereas this seropositivity was observed in 12.6% of the blood donor population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that Marseillevirus infection is not rare in healthy persons and may be transmitted by transfusion, thus raising speculation regarding the long-term consequences of this viral infection, particularly in patients requiring repeated blood transfusions.
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, 13005 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Popgeorgiev
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thuret
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chiarioni
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallian
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desnues
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D001782:Blood Donors; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000628:therapy*; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Blood donors; Blood infection; Giant viruses; Thalassemia; Transfusion