Prevalence and Quantity of Parvovirus B19 DNA Among Blood Donors from a Regional Blood Center in Turkey

Objective: Parvovirus B19 causes a range of diseases and morbidity in humans and is transmissible by transfusion of blood, blood components and plasma derivatives. The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence and quantity of B19 DNA among blood donors. Method: Totally 1053 samples were collected from March to July 2016 at a blood bank for detection of Parvovirus B19 DNA and serological status of blood donors. Testing of the presence of viral DNA was performed by a quantitative real-time PCR with a 101 copies/ml detection limit. All DNA positive and randomly selected 267 samples were tested for the presence of anti-B19 IgM and IgG by ELISA. Results: Age distribution of donors was between 18-64; mean age was 27 and median was 23. Among the 1053 samples, 5 (0.47%) had PB19 DNA. All PB19 DNA positive donations had both B19 IgM and IgG antibodies. The DNA level for positive donations were between 0.9 x 102 to 3.1 x 104 copies/ml. IgG and IgM were present in 59.9% (160/267) and 0,74% (2/267) respectively among the healthy donors without PB19 DNA. Conclusion: Detected DNA concentration was less than 105 copies/ml. The presence of IgM in low level PB19 DNA positive donors may indicate that there might be a risk in transmission of PB19 to particularly immunosuppressed recipients. The clinical follow-up of blood donation with low level of PB19DNA should be considered to answer the questions about blood safety.