Harshita Katiyar1, Amit Goel1, Atul Sonker2, Vishwajeet Yadav1, Sadul Sapun1, Rajendra Chaudhary2, Rakesh Aggarwal3. 1. Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, 226 014, India. 2. Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, 226 014, India. 3. Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, 226 014, India. aggarwal.ra@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is transmitted primarily through contaminated water and food. Recently, HEV viremia in blood donors and transfusion-related transmission of HEV have been reported, leading to calls to screen donated blood for this virus. However, these data are from regions where genotype 3 HEV is predominant. In India, where human infections are caused only by genotype 1 HEV, the frequency of subclinical HEV viremia is unknown. METHODS: Minipools of sera prepared from three donor units each from our institution's blood bank in Lucknow, India, were tested for HEV RNA using a sensitive amplification-based assay. A randomly selected subset was also tested for IgG anti-HEV antibodies using a commercial (Wantai) immunoassay. RESULTS: Sera from 1799 donors (median [range] age 30 [18-63] years; 1746 [97.0%] men) were collected (June-July 2016, 900; November-December 2016, 899). Of these, 17 (0.95%), 16 (0.90%), and 3 (0.17%) tested positive for HBsAg, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV antibodies, respectively. None of the donors tested positive for HEV RNA. Of 633 randomly selected donors (age 30 [18-63] years, 613 [96.8%] male) tested for IgG anti-HEV, 383 (60.5%) tested positive. Seropositivity rate increased with age, being 70/136 (52%), 177/299 (59%), 100/154 (65%), 30/34 (88%), and 6/10 (60%) in the 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55 years or older age groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy blood donors from northern India, HEV viremia is infrequent though anti-HEV antibody prevalence is high. This suggests that asymptomatic HEV viremia may be less frequent in areas with genotype 1 predominance than those with genotype 3 predominance.
BACKGROUND:Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is transmitted primarily through contaminated water and food. Recently, HEV viremia in blood donors and transfusion-related transmission of HEV have been reported, leading to calls to screen donated blood for this virus. However, these data are from regions where genotype 3 HEV is predominant. In India, where human infections are caused only by genotype 1 HEV, the frequency of subclinical HEV viremia is unknown. METHODS: Minipools of sera prepared from three donor units each from our institution's blood bank in Lucknow, India, were tested for HEV RNA using a sensitive amplification-based assay. A randomly selected subset was also tested for IgG anti-HEV antibodies using a commercial (Wantai) immunoassay. RESULTS: Sera from 1799 donors (median [range] age 30 [18-63] years; 1746 [97.0%] men) were collected (June-July 2016, 900; November-December 2016, 899). Of these, 17 (0.95%), 16 (0.90%), and 3 (0.17%) tested positive for HBsAg, anti-HCV, and anti-HIV antibodies, respectively. None of the donors tested positive for HEV RNA. Of 633 randomly selected donors (age 30 [18-63] years, 613 [96.8%] male) tested for IgG anti-HEV, 383 (60.5%) tested positive. Seropositivity rate increased with age, being 70/136 (52%), 177/299 (59%), 100/154 (65%), 30/34 (88%), and 6/10 (60%) in the 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55 years or older age groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy blood donors from northern India, HEV viremia is infrequent though anti-HEV antibody prevalence is high. This suggests that asymptomatic HEV viremia may be less frequent in areas with genotype 1 predominance than those with genotype 3 predominance.
Entities:
Keywords:
Hepatitis E virus; Seroprevalence; Viral hepatitis; Viremia
Authors: V A Arankalle; S A Tsarev; M S Chadha; D W Alling; S U Emerson; K Banerjee; R H Purcell Journal: J Infect Dis Date: 1995-02 Impact factor: 5.226
Authors: Patricia E Hewitt; Samreen Ijaz; Su R Brailsford; Rachel Brett; Steven Dicks; Becky Haywood; Iain T R Kennedy; Alan Kitchen; Poorvi Patel; John Poh; Katherine Russell; Kate I Tettmar; Joanne Tossell; Ines Ushiro-Lumb; Richard S Tedder Journal: Lancet Date: 2014-07-28 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Reem A Al Dossary; Awatif N Alnafie; Salma Ali Aljaroodi; Jawad Ur Rahman; Basavaraj C Hunasemarada; Khaled R Alkharsah Journal: J Multidiscip Healthc Date: 2021-08-27
Authors: Aybüke Koyuncu; Daniel Mapemba; Iza Ciglenecki; Emily S Gurley; Andrew S Azman Journal: Open Forum Infect Dis Date: 2021-04-13 Impact factor: 3.835