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Seropositivity of blood samples of 31,355 cornea donors from a tertiary care network of eye banks

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the seropositivity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis from blood samples of cornea donors and assess correlation between seropositivity for HIV and syphilis.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of blood samples of 31,355 cornea donors for HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis was performed. Postmortem blood samples were analyzed by a rapid screening test for anti-HIV envelope antibodies against HIV 1 and 2, HBV surface antigen, antibody to HCV and anti-cardiolipin antibodies for syphilis by rapid plasma reagin test.

Results

The overall seropositivity rate was 4.28% (1343/31,355 donors). All positive donors were reactive for a single serological test. The seropositivity rate for HIV was 0.93% (95% CI 0.83–1.04%), for HBsAg was 1.56% (95% CI 1.43–1.7%), for HCV was 1.19% (95% CI 1.08–1.33%) and for syphilis was 0.59% (95% CI 0.52–0.69%). The trends in seropositivity rates showed a decline for three viral markers: HIV (2010, 1.17% to 2018, 0.72%, p = 0.02), HBsAg (2010, 1.98% to 2018, 1.05%, p = 0.0006) and HCV (2010, 1.32% to 2018, 0.43%, p < 0.0001). The seropositivity rates for syphilis showed a progressive increase when compared to baseline (2010, 0.14% to 2018, 1.14%, p < 0.0001). There was no relationship between seropositivity for HIV and syphilis (p = 0.18).

Conclusions

The overall seropositivity for HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis was 4.28%. Seropositivity was highest for HBV. The study did not find correlation between seropositivity of HIV and syphilis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Eye Bank team members Venkataswamy Chandragiri, Srinivas Gunnam, Abhinit Jain, Hariharan Kalyanasundaram, Srinivas Kandhibanda, Balakrishna, Sirisha Nadella, Saroj Panda, Brinda Ramachandran and Kishan Reddy for their contributions in the completion of the study.

Funding

Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Vijayawada, India

    Aravind Roy

  2. The Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar, India

    Sujata Das

  3. The Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Vishakhapatnam, India

    Merle Fernandes

  4. Ophthalmic Biophysics, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India

    Ashik Mohamed

  5. The Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Banjara Hills, L V Prasad Marg, Hyderabad, 500034, Telangana, India

    Sunita Chaurasia

Authors
  1. Aravind Roy
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  3. Merle Fernandes
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  4. Ashik Mohamed
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  5. Sunita Chaurasia
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Contributions

SC was involved in design and conduct of the study; AR, SD, MF and AM were involved in collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; AR was involved in preparation of the manuscript; SD, MF, AM and SC were involved in review of the manuscript; AR, SD, MF, AM and SC were involved in final approval of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sunita Chaurasia.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Institutional Ethics Committee of L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India, approved this study.

Consent to participate

An informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from the next of kin of donors.

Consent for publication

The kin of donors signed informed consent regarding publishing their data and photographs.

Conference presentation

This work was presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2020 Annual Meeting [31].

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Roy, A., Das, S., Fernandes, M. et al. Seropositivity of blood samples of 31,355 cornea donors from a tertiary care network of eye banks. Int Ophthalmol 41, 1743–1751 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01733-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01733-0

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