Hepatitis A Virus Incidence Rates and Biomarker Dynamics for Plasma Donors, United States
Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Nov;27(11):2718-2824. doi: 10.3201/eid2711.204642.ABSTRACTThe United States is currently affected by widespread hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreaks. We investigated HAV incidence rates among source plasma donors in the United States since 2016. Serial donations from HAV-positive frequent donors were analyzed for common biologic markers to obtain a detailed picture of the course of infection. We found a considerable increase in incidence rates with shifting outbreak hotspots over time. Although individual biomarker profiles were highly variable, HAV RNA typically had a high peak and a biphasic decrease and often remained detectable for several months. One donor had a biomarker pattern indicative of previous exposure. Our findings show that current HAV outbreaks have been spilling over into the plasma donor population. The detailed results presented improve our comprehension of HAV infection and related public health aspects. In addition, the capture of full RNA curves enables estimation of HAV doubling time.PMID:34670659 | DOI:10.3201/eid2711.204642
Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Stephanie Schoch Martin W älti Mathias Schemmerer Rick Alexander Bj örn Keiner Carol Kralicek Keith Bycholski Kelley Hyatt Jon Knowles Denis Klochkov Toby Simon J ürgen J Wenzel Nathan J Roth Eleonora Widmer Source Type: research
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