Molecular Detection Of Epstein-Barr Virus In Patients With Major Β-Thalassemia In Iraq/Mosul City

Abstract

Background Transfusions of blood are among the most crucial elements.in establishing infection with EBV in Beta-thalassemia patients, as it renders their immune responses useless. This herpes family member (EBV) has a unique pathogenicity as it undergoes a latent period, after the initial infection, in which it resides within B cells waiting for immunity to drop so that it can cause reinfection.

This research aims to detect this oncogenic virus in people with beta-thalassemia for multiple genders and ages using the polymerase chain reaction PCR Method One hundred and fifty blood samples were collected from patients of different ages and genders from November/2024 to April/2025 in A specialized medical center in blood diseases and bone marrow transplantation – AlHadbaa Hospital. in Mosul/Iraq, each sample was diagnosed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Positive results were 63.8% of all samples. The prevalence of EBV was as high as 34.6% in people between 11-20 years old, marking the highest percentage of all ages in this study. Females had 34.5% of the whole 63.8% infection percentage. In conclusion, we can estimate that the EBV virus is a common virus among those who suffer from beta thalassemia, and PCR is an efficient method and could be considered the most accurate to detect this virus.