• Mohammad Reza Hedayati-Moghaddam, Farahnaz Tehranian, Arman Mosavat, Rahele Miri, and Sanaz Ahmadi Ghezeldasht.
• Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan, Mashhad, Iran.
• Arch Iran Med. 2024 Jun 1; 27 (6): 305312305-312.

BackgroundOccult hepatitis B infection (OBI) refers to the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in the serum or liver of individuals who tested negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg). This study aimed to determine seropositivity for antibodies against HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) and the frequency of OBI among the HBsAg non-reactive blood donors in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, serum samples of HBsAg-negative blood donors were examined for anti-HBc during June and August 2018. Anti-HBc-positive samples were tested for antibodies against HBsAg (anti-HBs), and those with negative results were classified as isolated anti-HBc cases. The presence of HBV DNA in the C, S, and X gene regions was assessed by a qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction method in all HBsAg-negative samples. OBI subjects were detected by the presence of at least one HBV genomic region.ResultsOf 540 HBsAg-negative donors, 29 (5.4%; 95% confidence interval: 3.6-7.6%) showed seroreactivity for anti-HBc, of whom 18 individuals were also seropositive for anti-HBs. All donors showed negative results for all three HBV genes regardless of their serum anti-HBc status.ConclusionBased on our findings, we suggest routine screening of Iranian blood donation volunteers for serum anti-HBc and anti-HBs but not HBV DNA.© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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