The Israel National Sera Bank: Methods, Representativeness, and Challenges

Abstract

The Israel National Sera Bank (INSB) was established in 1997 in the Israel Center for Disease Control. The purpose of the INSB was to provide policymakers with data on the immunity status of the Israeli population against vaccine-preventable diseases, and on the extent and characteristics of exposure to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The aim of this paper is to describe the methods, representativeness, and challenges in maintaining the INSB. The INSB comprises residual sera collected in six laboratories. By the end of 2019, 138,898 samples had been deposited in the INSB. These include samples from four community laboratories: 30.7% from the National Blood Service, 22.2% from Haifa and the Western Galilee, 21.7% from Soroka, and 0.7% from Jerusalem; and from two medical center laboratories: 18.6% from Schneider and 6.1% from Mayanei Hayeshua. The demographic characteristics of the sample at the end of 2019 closely resembled those of the general population. The main challenges addressed in maintaining the INSB relate to its representativeness, the possibility of repeated donors, costs, stability of antibody levels after long-term storage, ethical aspects, and the data available for each sample. The INSB is a unique, powerful, and necessary tool for assessing population immunity levels, based on serum samples collected over a long period of time.

Under-diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections among children aged 0–15 years, a nationwide seroprevalence study, Israel, January 2020 to March 2021

“…We studied 2,765 serum samples collected between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2021 from children aged 0–15 years, with a median age of 8.9 years (interquartile range: 4.1–13.1). Samples were obtained anonymously from individuals who performed routine or diagnostic blood tests in one of five laboratories located throughout Israel by the Israel National Serum Bank (INSB) [ 6 ]. None of the children had received a COVID-19 vaccine.…”

IgG Serum Antibodies to Shigella sonnei Lipopolysaccharide Are Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Culture-Proven S. sonnei Shigellosis in Israeli Children and Adolescents

“…Similar representation of both genders and Jewish and Israeli Arab population groups was targeted in the various age strata. The INSB, established by the Israel Center for Disease Control (ICDC) in 1997, monitors the immunity of the Israeli population against vaccine- and non-vaccine-preventable diseases of public health importance [ 27 ]. The serum samples for the INSB are collected from six laboratories and are all residual sera from healthy blood donors or individuals who have undergone routine or diagnostic blood tests excluding those related to immunological conditions.…”

“…The serum samples for the INSB are collected from six laboratories and are all residual sera from healthy blood donors or individuals who have undergone routine or diagnostic blood tests excluding those related to immunological conditions. All serum samples at the INSB are anonymized, while demographic data such as sex, age, religion, nationality, and place of residence (at the town level) are retained for each sample [ 27 ].…”

The Concordance between Mumps and Rubella Sero-Positivity among the Israeli Population in 2015

“…In addition, we collected data on the district of residence and socio-economic status (SES) (allocated using the classification of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistic set for each address, categorized from low (1–5) to high (6–10) [ 3 ]). The specific methods, representativeness, and the challenges of the INSB sample collection were described previously [ 4 ].…”