Investigation of human parvovirus B19 prevalence in a large healthy umbilical cord blood donors

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) was used to source hematopoietic stem cells in the past. Despite the apparent advantages of UCB transplantation, virus reactivation poses a considerable danger in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Human Parvovirus B19 is regarded as a potential threat to UCB contamination. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of parvovirus B19 in cord blood donors by Semi-Nested PCR. This study is the first large-scale report of the B19 DNA in cord blood donors in Iran.

A total of 691 umbilical cord blood were collected under standard procedure. Then, DNA from buffy coat and plasma were extracted, and semi-nested PCR was performed for all samples.

Two out of 691 samples (0.29%) indicated viremia in plasma and buffy coat.

In this line, designing and validating a quantitative PCR assay for detection, quantification, and discrimination of Human B19 DNA genotypes of cord blood donors is necessary to enhance the safety of this source of stem cells.