Screening for arboviruses in healthy blood donors: Experience from Karachi, Pakistan

Moiz Ahmed Khan; Kehkashan Imtiaz; Humaira Shafaq; Joveria Farooqi; Mohammad Hassan; Afia Zafar; Maureen T. Long; Kelli L. Barr; Erum Khan

doi:10.1016/j.virs.2022.07.008

October 2022

Citation: Moiz Ahmed Khan, Kehkashan Imtiaz, Humaira Shafaq, Joveria Farooqi, Mohammad Hassan, Afia Zafar, Maureen T. Long, Kelli L. Barr, Erum Khan. Screening for arboviruses in healthy blood donors: Experience from Karachi, Pakistan .VIROLOGICA SINICA, 2022, 37(5) : 774-777. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virs.2022.07.008

Screening for arboviruses in healthy blood donors: Experience from Karachi, Pakistan

a Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology & Lab Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan;
b Blood Bank, Haematology & Transfusion Medicine, Department of Pathology & Lab Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan;
c Comparative Diagnostic and Population Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville FL32611, USA;
d Center for Global Health and Infectious Disease Research, University of South Florida, Tampa FL33620, USA

Corresponding author: Erum Khan, erum.khan@aku.edu
Received Date: 15 December 2021
Accepted Date: 13 July 2022
Available online: 19 July 2022

Abstract

Highlights:
1 Potential transfusion-related transmission of DENV, WNV and JEV was investigated in healthy blood donors from the blood bank of Aga Khan University during July to December 2018.
2 ELISA for DENV, WNV and JEV IgM antibodies and RT-PCR for viral RNA detection were performed.
3 Of the 360 blood donors screened, IgM antibodies for DENV and WNV were positive in 3.9% and JEV in 0.28% respectively while none of the blood donors tested positive for RT-PCR.
4 Majority of the seropositive donors were between 19 to 30 years of age and residents of urban areas, mainly from Karachi City.
5 DENV and WNV seropositivity were significantly associated with residence in Malir District of Karachi.

Electronic Supplementary Material

10.1016j.virs.2022.07.008-ESM.docx
References
1. Al-Azraqi, T.A., El Mekki, A.A., Mahfouz, A.A., 2013. Seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in Aseer and Jizan regions, Southwestern Saudi Arabia. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 107, 368-371.
2. Barr, K.L., Khan, E., Farooqi, J.Q., Imtiaz, K., Prakoso, D., Malik, F., Lednicky, J.A., Long, M.T., 2018. Evidence of chikungunya virus disease in Pakistan since 2015 with patients demonstrating involvement of the central nervous system. Front. Public Health 6, 186.
3. Chan, Y.C., Salahuddin, N.I., Khan, J., Tan, H.C., Seah, C.L., Li, J., Chow, V.T., 1995. Dengue haemorrhagic fever outbreak in Karachi, Pakistan, 1994. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 89, 619-620.
4. Cheng, V., Sridhar, S., Wong, S., Wong, S., Chan, J., Yip, C., Chau, C.H., Au, T., Hwang, Y.Y., Yau, C., Lo, J., Lee, C.K., Yuen, K.Y., 2018. Japanese encephalitis virus transmitted via blood transfusion, Hong Kong, China. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 24, 49.
5. Chuang, V.W., Wong, T., Leung, Y., Ma, E.S., Law, Y., Tsang, O.T., Chan, K.M., Tsang, I., Que, T.L., Yung, R., Liu, S.H., 2008. Review of dengue fever cases in Hong Kong during 1998 to 2005. Hong Kong Med. J. 14, 170-177.
6. Huang, Y.S., Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., 2019. Arbovirus-mosquito vector-host interactions and the impact on transmission and disease pathogenesis of arboviruses. Front. Microbiol. 10, 22.
7. Kalayanarooj, S., Gibbons, R.V., Vaughn, D., Green, S., Nisalak, A., Jarman, R.G., Mammen Jr., M.P., Perng, G.C., 2007. Blood group AB is associated with increased risk for severe dengue disease in secondary infections. J. Infect. Dis. 195, 1014-1017.
8. Kamimura, K., Takasu, T., Ahmed, A., Ahmed, A., 1986. A survey of mosquitoes in karachi area, pakistan. J. Pakistan Med. Assoc. 36, 182-188.
9. Karim, F., Nasir, N., Moiz, B., 2017. Transfusion transmitted dengue:one donor infects two patients. Transfus. Apher. Sci. 56, 151-153.
10. Khan, E., Barr, K.L., Farooqi, J.Q., Prakoso, D., Abbas, A., Khan, Z.Y., Ashi, S., Imtiaz, K., Aziz, Z., Malik, F., Lednicky, J.A., Long, M.T., 2018. Human West Nile virus disease outbreak in Pakistan, 2015-2016. Front. Public Health 6, 20.
11. Khan, E., Prakoso, D., Imtiaz, K., Malik, F., Farooqi, J.Q., Long, M.T., Barr, K.L., 2020. The clinical features of co-circulating dengue viruses and the absence of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Pakistan. Front. Public Health 8, 287.
12. Linnen, J.M., Vinelli, E., Sabino, E.C., Tobler, L.H., Hyland, C., Lee, T.H., Kolk, D.P., Broulik, A.S., Collins, C.S., Lanciotti, R.S., Busch, M.P., 2008. Dengue viremia in blood donors from Honduras, Brazil, and Australia. Transfusion 48, 1355-1362.
13. Mahmood, S., Nabeel, H., Hafeez, S., Zahra, U., Nazeer, H., 2013. Seroprevalence of dengue IgG antibodies among healthy adult population in Lahore, Pakistan. Int. Sch. Res. Notices 1-6, 2013.
14. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2022. Population by 5 Year Age Group-Pakistan. http s://www.pbs.gov.pk/. (Accessed 15 December 2020).
15. Palmer, S.R., Soulsby, L., Torgerson, P.R., Brown, D.W., 2011. In:Oxford Textbook of Zoonoses. Biology, Clinical Practice, and Public Health Control. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
16. Pealer, L.N., Marfin, A.A., Petersen, L.R., Lanciotti, R.S., Page, P.L., Stramer, S.L., Stobierski, M.G., Signs, K., Newman, B., Kapoor, H., Goodman, J.L., Chamberland, M.E., West Nile virus transmission investigation team, 2003. Transmission of West Nile virus through blood transfusion in the United States in 2002. N. Engl. J. Med. 349, 1236-1245.
17. Ranjan, P., Natarajan, V., Bajpai, M., Gupta, E., 2016. High seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in blood donors from Delhi:a single centre study. J. Clin. Diagn. Res. 10, DC08-DC10.
18. Rasheed, S.B., Butlin, R.K., Boots, M., 2013. A review of dengue as an emerging disease in Pakistan. Publ. Health 127, 11-17.
19. Ratterree, M.S., Gutierrez, R.A., Travassos da Rosa, A.P., Dille, B.J., Beasley, D.W., Bohm, R.P., Desai, S.M., Didier, P.J., Bikenmeyer, L.G., Dawson, G.J., Leary, T.P., Schochetman, G., Phillippi-Falkenstein, K., Arroyo, J., Barrett, A.D., Tesh, R.B., 2004. Experimental infection of rhesus macaques with West Nile virus:level and duration of viremia and kinetics of the antibody response after infection. J. Infect. Dis. 189, 669-676.
20. Ravichandran, S., Ramya, S., Kanungo, R., 2019. Association of ABO blood groups with dengue fever and its complications in a tertiary care hospital. J. Lab. Physicians 11, 265-269.
21. Sabino, E.C., Loureiro, P., Lopes, M.E., Capuani, L., McClure, C., Chowdhury, D., DiLorenzo-Oliveira, C., Oliveira, L.C., Linnen, J.M., Lee, T.H., Gonalez, T., Brambilla, D., Kleinman, S., Busch, M.P., Custer, B., 2016. International component of the NHLBI recipient epidemiology and donor evaluation study-III, 2016. TransfusionTransmitted dengue and associated clinical symptoms during the 2012 epidemic in Brazil. J. Infect. Dis. 213, 694-702.
22. Saeed, U., Piracha, Z.Z., 2016. Viral outbreaks and communicable health hazards due to devastating floods in Pakistan. World J. Virol. 5, 82-84.
23. Stramer, S.L., Hollinger, F.B., Katz, L.M., Kleinman, S., Metzel, P.S., Gregory, K.R., Dodd, R.Y., 2009. Emerging infectious disease agents and their potential threat to transfusion safety. Transfusion 49, 1S-29S.
24. Stramer, S.L., Linnen, J.M., Carrick, J.M., Foster, G.A., Krysztof, D.E., Zou, S., Dodd, R.Y., Tirado-Marrero, L.M., Hunsperger, E., Santiago, G.A., Muñoz-Jordan, J.L., Tomashek, K.M., 2012. Dengue viremia in blood donors identified by RNA and detection of dengue transfusion transmission during the 2007 dengue outbreak in Puerto Rico. Transfusion 52, 1657-1666.
25. Sutherst, R.W., 2004. Global change and human vulnerability to vector-borne diseases. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 17, 136-173.
26. Tambyah, P.A., Koay, E.S., Poon, M.L., Lin, R.V., Ong, B.K., 2008. Dengue hemorrhagic fever transmitted by blood transfusion. N. Engl. J. Med. 359, 1526-1527.
27. Viennet, E., Ritchie, S.A., Williams, C.R., Faddy, H.M., Harley, D., 2016. Public health responses to and challenges for the control of dengue transmission in high-income countries:four case studies. PLoS Neglected Trop. Dis. 10, e0004943.
Proportional views