Emerging Infectious Diseases (Nov 2021)

Hepatitis A Virus Incidence Rates and Biomarker Dynamics for Plasma Donors, United States

  • Stephanie Schoch,
  • Martin Wälti,
  • Mathias Schemmerer,
  • Rick Alexander,
  • Björn Keiner,
  • Carol Kralicek,
  • Keith Bycholski,
  • Kelley Hyatt,
  • Jon Knowles,
  • Denis Klochkov,
  • Toby Simon,
  • Jürgen J. Wenzel,
  • Nathan J. Roth,
  • Eleonora Widmer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2711.204642
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 11
pp. 2818 – 2824

Abstract

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The 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.

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