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Chronic hepatitis B carriers found at blood donation: do they need regular follow-up?
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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers identified through blood donation require specialist follow-up. Despite low attendance rates, long-term outcomes for chronic HBV carriers show a good prognosis, supporting continued specialist care.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- The Department of Health and Social Security recommends specialist liver unit follow-up for hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers identified during blood donation.
- Early identification of HBV carriers is crucial for public health and preventing transmission.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility and outcomes of specialist follow-up for HBV carriers identified through blood donation.
- To evaluate the long-term prognosis of chronic HBV carriers detected via blood donation.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 74 patients identified as HBV carriers by the Yorkshire Regional Blood Transfusion Service over 4.5 years.
- Tracking patient attendance for specialist liver unit investigations and follow-up.
- Monitoring the health status and prognosis of chronic HBV carriers over extended periods (2-14 years).
Main Results:
- Only 32 out of 74 identified HBV carriers attended for follow-up.
- Despite low attendance, 43 chronic HBV carriers were followed for 2 to 14 years.
- The prognosis for these followed chronic HBV carriers was consistently good.
Conclusions:
- While specialist unit attendance rates were low, the good prognosis observed in followed chronic HBV carriers suggests the importance of this follow-up pathway.
- Continued advocacy for specialist liver unit follow-up for blood-donation-identified HBV carriers is recommended due to positive long-term outcomes.
Abstract:
It is recommended by the Department of Health and Social Security that hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers found at blood donation should be followed up by specialist liver units. We attempted to do this in 74 such patients found by the Yorkshire Regional Blood Transfusion Service during a 4.5-year period. Only 32 of the patients eventually attended for further investigation and follow-up. However, 43 chronic HBV carriers found at blood donation have been followed for varying periods from 2 to 14 years, and the prognosis has been good. Although this raises the question as to whether such carriers need to be seen routinely in a specialist unit, we suggest that there are good reasons to continue to advocate this policy.