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Multicenter comparison of serologic assays and estimation of human herpesvirus 8 seroprevalence among US blood donors.
Pubmed ID: 12919429
Journal: Transfusion
Publication Date: Sept. 1, 2003
MeSH Terms: Humans, United States, Blood Donors, Antibodies, Viral, Herpesvirus 8, Human, Sensitivity and Specificity, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Blood Banks, Herpesviridae Infections, Reference Standards
Grants: N01-HB-47114, N01-HB-97078, N01-HB-97079, N01-HB-97080, N01-HB-97081, N01-HB-97082, N01-HB-97077
Authors: Busch MP, Glynn SA, Lee TH, Todd DS, Nemo GJ, Dollard SC, Goedert JJ, Pellett PE, Wright DJ, Engels EA, Ablashi DV, Forghani B, Jenkins FJ, Neipel F, Whitby D
Cite As: Pellett PE, Wright DJ, Engels EA, Ablashi DV, Dollard SC, Forghani B, Glynn SA, Goedert JJ, Jenkins FJ, Lee TH, Neipel F, Todd DS, Whitby D, Nemo GJ, Busch MP, Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study. Multicenter comparison of serologic assays and estimation of human herpesvirus 8 seroprevalence among US blood donors. Transfusion 2003 Sep;43(9):1260-8.
Studies:
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) Allogeneic Donor and Recipient Repository (RADAR)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) General Leukocyte/Plasma Repository (GLPR)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) HTLV Cohort (HTLV)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) Human Herpes Virus 8 Special Collection from the General Leukocyte/Plasma Repository (HHV8)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS): Special Repository Collections (SR)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS II) Donation and Deferral Database (CORE)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS II) Donor Iron Status Evaluation Study (RISE)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS II) Leukocyte Antibodies Prevalence Study (LAPS)
- Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS II) Molecular Surveillance (MS)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: As part of assessing the possibility of transfusion transmission of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8 or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus), HHV-8 seroprevalence was estimated among US blood donors, the performance of HHV-8 serologic tests was compared, and the presence of HHV-8 DNA was tested for in donated blood. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Replicate panels of 1040 plasma specimens prepared from 1000 US blood donors (collected in 1994 and 1995) and 21 Kaposi's sarcoma patients were tested for antibodies to HHV-8 in six laboratories. HHV-8 PCR was performed on blood samples from 138 donors, including all 33 who tested seropositive in at least two laboratories and 22 who tested positive in at least one. RESULTS: The estimated HHV-8 seroprevalence among US blood donors was 3.5 percent (95% CI, 1.2%-9.8%) by a conditional dependence latent-class model, 3.0 percent (95% CI, 2.0%-4.6%) by a conditional independence latent-class model, and 3.3 percent (95% CI, 2.3%-4.6%) by use of a consensus-derived gold standard (specimens positive in two or more laboratories); the conditional dependence model best fit the data. In this model, laboratory specificities ranged from 96.6 to 100 percent. Sensitivities ranged widely, but with overlapping 95 percent CIs. HHV-8 DNA was detected in blood from none of 138 donors evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: Medical and behavioral screening does not eliminate HHV-8-seropositive persons from the US blood donor pool, but no viral DNA was found in donor blood. Further studies of much larger numbers of seropositive individuals will be required to more completely assess the rate of viremia and possibility of HHV-8 transfusion transmission. Current data do not indicate a need to screen US blood donors for HHV-8.