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Abstract

Prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies is highly variable in developed countries, which seems partly due to differences in assay sensitivity. Using validated sensitive assays, we tested 313 blood donors attending a hospital transfusion unit in central Italy in January and February 2014 for anti-HEV IgG and IgM and HEV RNA. Data on HEV exposure were collected from all donors. Overall anti-HEV IgG prevalence was 49% (153/313). Eating raw dried pig-liver sausage was the only independent predictor of HEV infection (adjusted prevalence rate ratio = 2.14; 95% confidence interval: 1.23–3.74). Three donors were positive for either anti-HEV IgM (n = 2; 0.6%) or HEV RNA (n = 2; 0.6%); they were completely asymptomatic, without alanine aminotransferase (ALT) abnormalities. Of the two HEV RNA-positive donors (both harbouring genotype 3), one was anti-HEV IgG- and IgM-positive, the other was anti-HEV IgG- and IgM-negative. The third donor was positive for anti-HEV IgG and IgM but HEV RNA-negative. HEV infection is therefore hyperendemic among blood donors (80% men 18–64 years-old) from central Italy and associated with local dietary habits. Nearly 1% of donors have acute or recent infection, implying potential transmission to blood recipients. Neither ALT nor anti-HEV IgM testing seems useful to prevent transfusion-transmitted HEV infection.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299
2016-07-28
2024-11-28
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299
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High prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies among blood donors in central Italy, February to March 2014
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Claudia+Lucarelli&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lucarelli Claudia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Enea+Spada&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Spada Enea</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Gloria+Taliani&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Taliani Gloria</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Paola+Chionne&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chionne Paola</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Elisabetta+Madonna&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Madonna Elisabetta</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Cinzia+Marcantonio&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Marcantonio Cinzia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Patrizio+Pezzotti&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pezzotti Patrizio</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Roberto+Bruni&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bruni Roberto</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Giuseppina+La+Rosa&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">La Rosa Giuseppina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Giulio+Pisani&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pisani Giulio</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Luigi+Dell%26apos%3BOrso&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Dell&apos;Orso Luigi</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Katia+Ragone&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ragone Katia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Carla+Tomei&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Tomei Carla</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Anna+Rita+Ciccaglione&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ciccaglione Anna Rita</a></span>. High prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies among blood donors in central Italy, February to March 2014. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2016;21(30):pii=30299. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 08 Jun 2015;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 25 Feb 2016 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.30.30299
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