Abstract:
Introduction: Identification of hepatitis B virus carriers in blood donors is imperative to prevent transmission of the disease through blood transfusions. transmission of the disease through blood transfusions. Objective: To determine whether blood donors with positive results for the positive results of HbsAg and anti-HBc serological markers were carriers of hepatitis B virus DNA. Methods: 12 745 samples were collected from six Ecuadorian blood banks and analyzed with serological tests to identify the infectious markers of hepatitis B virus. serological tests to identify the infectious markers HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs by automated ELISA. All samples positive for one, two or all three markers were analyzed with molecular technique to determine the presence of viral DNA. the presence of viral DNA. Results: It was identified that 27.5 % of the samples reactive only to anti-HBc and 100 % of the samples with positive results for HBsA. HBsAg/anti-HBc-IgM/IgG positive samples had hepatitis B virus DNA (p = 0.001). Conclusions: The choice of infection markers and detection methods define the results. It is important to It is important to perform two serological and one molecular test to identify carriers of hepatitis B virus and prevent its transmission.