Fischer Carina, Hofmann Martina, Danzer Martin, Hofer Katja, Kaar Jennifer, Gabriel Christian
Red Cross Transfusion Service for Upper Austria, Linz, Austria.
PLoS One. 2015 Mar 9;10(3):e0119576. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119576. eCollection 2015.
In recent years various studies showed, that hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a growing public health problem in many developed countries. Therefore, HEV infections might bear a transmission risk by blood transfusions. The clinical relevance still requires further investigations. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of acute HEV infections in Upper Austrian blood donors as well as a risk estimation of this transfusion-related infection.
A total of 58,915 blood donors were tested for HEV RNA using a commercial HEV RT-PCR Kit. 7 of these donors (0.01%) were PCR-positive with normal laboratory parameters in absence of clinical signs of hepatitis. Viral load determined by quantitative real-time PCR showed a HEV nucleic acid concentration of 2,217 293,635 IU/ml. At follow-up testing (2-11 weeks after donation) all blood donors had negative HEV RNA results. Additionally, genotyping was performed by amplification and sequencing of the ORF1 or ORF2 region of the HEV genome. All HEV RNA positive donor samples revealed a genotype 3 isolate. For the antibody screening, anti-HEV IgM and IgG were detected by ELISA. Follow up serological testing revealed that no donor was seropositive for HEV IgM or IgG antibodies at time of donation. Moreover, we verified the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG in 1,203 of the HEV RNA negative tested blood donors. Overall 13.55% showed positive results for anti-HEV IgG.
In the presented study, we investigated HEV infections in blood donations of Upper Austria over 1 year. We concluded that 1 out of 8,416 blood donations is HEV RNA positive. Seroprevalence of anti HEV IgG results in an age-related increase of 13.55%. Therefore, based on this data, we recommend HEV-PCR screening to prevent transmission of hepatitis E virus by transfusion.
近年来，多项研究表明，戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）在许多发达国家正成为一个日益严重的公共卫生问题。因此，HEV感染可能存在输血传播风险。其临床相关性仍需进一步研究。本研究的目的是概述奥地利上奥地利州献血者中急性HEV感染情况，并对这种与输血相关的感染进行风险评估。
使用商用HEV RT-PCR试剂盒对总共58,915名献血者进行HEV RNA检测。其中7名献血者（0.01%）PCR检测呈阳性，实验室参数正常，且无肝炎临床症状。通过定量实时PCR测定的病毒载量显示，HEV核酸浓度为2,217至293,635 IU/ml。在随访检测（献血后2至11周）中，所有献血者的HEV RNA检测结果均为阴性。此外，通过对HEV基因组的ORF1或ORF2区域进行扩增和测序来进行基因分型。所有HEV RNA阳性献血者样本均显示为3型分离株。对于抗体筛查，通过ELISA检测抗HEV IgM和IgG。随访血清学检测显示，献血时没有献血者抗HEV IgM或IgG抗体呈血清阳性。此外，我们在1,203名HEV RNA检测阴性的献血者中验证了抗HEV IgG的流行率。总体而言，13.55%的人抗HEV IgG检测结果呈阳性。
在本研究中，我们调查了奥地利上奥地利州超过1年的献血中的HEV感染情况。我们得出结论，每8416次献血中有1次HEV RNA呈阳性。抗HEV IgG的血清流行率随年龄增长而增加，为13.55%。因此，基于这些数据，我们建议进行HEV-PCR筛查以预防戊型肝炎病毒通过输血传播。
