NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION TEST FOR DETECTION OF WEST NILE VIRUS INFECTION IN PAKISTANI BLOOD DONORS

Authors

  • Saifullah Khan Niazi Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8424-0639
  • Maqbool Alam Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.
  • Muhammad Sajid Yazdani Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.
  • Eijaz Ghani Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.
  • Muhammad Ali Rathore Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.

Abstract

Background: The study was planned to determine the presence of West Nile Virus (WNV) infection in Pakistani blood donors, using Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAT). Methods: The blood donors for study were selected on the basis of the standard questionnaire and routine screening results. Six donors were pooled using an automated pipettor and NAT for WNV was performed on Roche Cobas s 201 NAT system. The reactive pools were resolved in Individual Donation-NAT (ID-NAT) format and a sample from FFP bags of reactive donations was retrieved. NAT was again performed on retrieved plasma bag (RPB) sample to confirm the reactive donations. The donors were also recalled and interviewed about history of illness related to recent WNV infection. Results: After serological screening of 1929 donors during the study period, 1860 donors were selected for NAT test for WNV detection. The mean age of the donors was 28±8.77 (range: 18–57 years). 1847 (99.3%) donors were male and 13 (0.7%) were female. NAT for WNV identified six initially reactive pools (0.32%). On follow-up testing with RPB samples, 4 donors (0.21%) were found confirmed reactive for WNV RNA (NAT yield of 1 in 465 blood donors). Conclusion: WNV is a threat to safety of blood products in Pakistan. A screening strategy can be implemented after a large-scale study and financial considerations. One of the reduced cost screening strategies is seasonal screening of blood donors for WNV, with pooling of samples.Keywords: Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAT); West Nile Virus (WNV); Blood donors

Author Biographies

Saifullah Khan Niazi, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.

Dr Saifullah Khan Niazi,MBBS, FCPS (Virology),Consultant Virologist,Department of Virolgy, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.

Maqbool Alam, Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.

Brig Dr Maqbool AlamMBBS, FCPS (Haematology),Consultant Haematologist,Commandant AFIT, Rawalpindi

Muhammad Sajid Yazdani, Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.

Col Dr Sajid YazdaniMBBS, FCPS (Haematology),Consultant Haematologist,AFIT, Rawalpindi

Eijaz Ghani, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.

Col Dr Eijaz GhaniMBBS, FCPS (Virology),Consultant Virologist,Department of Virolgy, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi.

Muhammad Ali Rathore, Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion (AFIT), Rawalpindi.

Dr Muhammad Ali RathoreMBBS, FCPS (Virology),Consultant Virologist, AFIT, Rawalpindi

References

Smithburn KC, Hughes TP, Burke AW, Paul JH. A Neurotropic virus isolated from the blood of native of Uganda. Am J Trop Med 1940;1(4):471–92.

Komar N, Langevin S, Hinten S, Nemeth N, Edwards E, Hettler D, et al. Experimental infection of North American birds with the New York 1999 strain of West Nile virus. Emerg Infect Dis 2003;9(3):311–22.

Petersen LR, Roehrig JT. West Nile virus: a reemerging global pathogen. Emerg Infect Dis 2001;7(4):611–4.

Nash D, Mostashari F, Fine A, Miller J, O'Leary D, Murray K, et al. The outbreak of West Nile virus infection in the New York City area in 1999. N Engl J Med 2001;344(24):1807–14.

Hayes CG, Baqar S, Ahmed T, Chowdhry MA, Reisen WK. West Nile virus in Pakistan. 1. Sero-epidemiological studies in Punjab Province. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 1982;76(4):431–6.

Sugamata M, Ahmed A, Miura T, Takasu T, Kono R, Ogata T, et al. Seroepidemiological study of infection with West Nile virus in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1983 and 1985. J Med Virol 1988;26(3):243–7.

Darwish MA, Hoogstraal H, Roberts TJ, Ahmed IP, Omar F. A sero-epidemiological survey for certain arboviruses (Togaviridae) in Pakistan. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 1983;77(4):442–5.

Khan E, Farooqi JQ, Barr KL, Prakoso D, Nasir A, Kanji A, et al. Flaviviruses as a Cause of Undifferentiated Fever in Sindh Province, Pakistan: A Preliminary Report. Front Public Health 2016;4:8.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Intrauterine West Nile virus infection – New York, 2002. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2002;51(50):1135–6.

Pealer LN, Marfin AA, Petersen LR, Lanciotti RS, Page PL, Stramer SL, et al. Transmission of West Nile virus through blood transfusion in the United States in 2002. N Engl J Med 2003;349(13):1236–45.

Iwamoto M, Jernigan DB, Guasch A, Trepka MJ, Blackmore CG, Hellinger WC, et al. Transmission of West Nile virus from an organ donor to four transplant recipients. N Engl J Med 2003;348(22):2196–203.

Bryan JP, Iqbal M, Ksiazek TG, Ahmed A, Duncan JF, Awan B, et al. Prevalence of sand fly fever, West Nile, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and leptospirosis antibodies in Pakistani military personnel. Mil Med 1996;161(3):149–53.

Zohaib A, Saqib M, Beck C, Hussain MH, Lowenski S, Lecollinet S, et al. High prevalence of West Nile virus in equines from the two provinces of Pakistan. Epidemiol Infect 2015;143(9):1931–5.

Maramattom BV, Philips G, Sudheesh N, Arunkumar G. Acute flaccid paralysis due to West nile virus infection in adults: A paradigm shift entity. Ann Indian Acad Neurol 2014;17(1):85–8.

Sudeep AB, Ghodke YS, Gokhale MD, George RP, Dhaigude SD, Bondre VP. Replication potential and different modes of transmission of West Nile virus in an Indian strain of Culex gelidus Theobald (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes. J Vector Borne Dis 2014;51(4):333–8.

Sharifi Z, Mahmoodian Shooshtari M, Talebian A. A Study of West Nile Virus Infection in Iranian Blood Donors. Arch Iran Med 2010;13(1):1–4.

Biggerstaff BJ, Petersen LR. Estimated risk of West Nile virus transmission through blood transfusion during an epidemic in Queens, New York City. Transfusion 2002;42(8):1019–26.

Louisirirotchanakul S, Oota S, Khuponsarb K, Chalermchan W, Phikulsod S, Chongkolwatana V, et al. Occult hepatitis B virus infection in Thai blood donors. Transfusion 2011;51(7):1532–40.

Yang Z, Xu L, Liu L, Feng Q, Zhang L, Ma W, et al. Routine screening of blood donations at Qingdao Central Blood Bank, China, for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA with a real-time, multiplex nucleic acid test for HBV, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2. Transfusion 2013;53(10 Pt 2):2538–44.

Pauli G, Bauerfeind U, Blumel J, Burger R, Drosten C, Groner A, et al. West Nile virus. Transfus Med Hemother 2013;40(4):265–84.

Dodd RY, Foster GA, Stramer SL. Keeping Blood Transfusion Safe From West Nile Virus: American Red Cross Experience, 2003 to 2012. Transfus Med Rev 2015;29(3):153–61.

Barzon L, Pacenti M, Cusinato R, Cattai M, Franchin E, Pagni S, et al. Human cases of West Nile Virus infection in north-eastern Italy, 15 June to 15 November 2010. Euro Surveill 2011;16(33):pii19949.

Published

2017-10-15

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 4 (2017): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE, ABBOTTABAD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

License

Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License  CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.

USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.