A Bayesian Meta-Analysis on Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Chinese Volunteer Blood Donors

Background
Although transfusion-transmitted infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) threatens the blood safety of China, the nationwide circumstance of HBV infection among blood donors is still unclear.
Objectives
To comprehensively estimate the prevalence of HBsAg positive and HBV occult infection (OBI) among Chinese volunteer blood donors through bayesian meta-analysis.
Methods
We performed an electronic search in Pub-Med, Web of Knowledge, Medline, Wanfang Data and CNKI, complemented by a hand search of relevant reference lists. Two authors independently extracted data from the eligible studies. Then two bayesian random-effect meta-analyses were performed, followed by bayesian meta-regressions.
Results
5957412 and 571227 donors were identified in HBsAg group and OBI group, respectively. The pooled prevalence of HBsAg group and OBI group among donors is 1.085% (95% credible interval [CI] 0.859%∼1.398%) and 0.094% (95% CI 0.0578%∼0.1655%). For HBsAg group, subgroup analysis shows the more developed area has a lower prevalence than the less developed area; meta-regression indicates there is a significant decreasing trend in HBsAg positive prevalence with sampling year (beta = −0.1202, 95% −0.2081∼−0.0312).
Conclusion
Blood safety against HBV infection in China is suffering serious threats and the government should take effective measures to improve this situation.