Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Setor de Virologia, Laboratório de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, S/N. Cidade Universitária, 50, Recife, Pernambuco, 670-901, Brazil.
Braz J Microbiol. 2022 Dec;53(4):1995-2001. doi: 10.1007/s42770-022-00816-z. Epub 2022 Sep 14.
Oral transmission is the main route of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection; however, genotypes 3 and 4 may also be transmitted by blood transfusion. Individuals who need blood products are often immunosuppressed, which increase the risk of severe disease and death by HEV. Despite this, blood banks in Brazil do not screen for HEV and epidemiological studies in this population are rare; this is an important issue as HEV-3 is frequently identified in the country. Herein, we analyzed the seroprevalence and risk factors for HEV seropositivity in donor candidates/blood donors from Northeast Brazil. Nine hundred and ninety-six donor candidates/blood donors from Foundation of Hematology and Hemotherapy of Pernambuco (HEMOPE) were interviewed regarding socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and behavioral data and analyzed for anti-HEV IgG. Anti-HEV IgG was detected using the HEV IgG (EUROIMMUN) kit. Associations between seropositivity and potential risk factors were analyzed by the χ test and Fisher's exact test. Seroprevalence was 0.9% (9/996), 77.77% (7/9) and 22.22% (2/9) in blood donors and donor candidates, respectively. HEV seropositivity was associated with male (OR: 11.65; CI: 0.6755-200.9; p = 0.0163), income higher than BRL 20,000/month (p = 0.0002), and lake bathing (OR: 4.553; CI: 1.391-15.25; p = 0.0258). Importantly, about 43% (3/7) of anti-HEV positive donors made their first donation more than 20 years ago, which must be taken as a warning sign, given the possibility that these individuals may have been infected after registration as donors. Finally, the report of HEV seropositivity, especially in regular blood donors, as well as the identification of potential risk factors, reinforces the need for viral screening in Brazilian blood banks.
经口传播是戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）感染的主要途径；然而，基因型 3 和 4 也可能通过输血传播。需要血液制品的个体通常存在免疫抑制，这会增加 HEV 引起严重疾病和死亡的风险。尽管如此，巴西的血库并不对 HEV 进行筛查，而针对该人群的流行病学研究也很少；这是一个重要问题，因为该国经常发现 HEV-3。在此，我们分析了巴西东北部供者候选者/献血者的 HEV 血清流行率和血清阳性的危险因素。对来自伯南布哥州血液基金会（HEMOPE）的 996 名供者候选者/献血者进行了关于社会经济、社会人口和行为数据的访谈，并对其抗-HEV IgG 进行了分析。使用 HEV IgG（EUROIMMUN）试剂盒检测抗-HEV IgG。通过 χ 检验和 Fisher 确切检验分析血清阳性与潜在危险因素之间的关联。血清阳性率分别为 996 名供者候选者/献血者中的 0.9%（9/996）、77.77%（7/9）和 22.22%（2/9）。HEV 血清阳性与男性（OR：11.65；CI：0.6755-200.9；p=0.0163）、收入高于每月 20,000 巴西雷亚尔（p=0.0002）和湖浴（OR：4.553；CI：1.391-15.25；p=0.0258）相关。重要的是，7 名抗-HEV 阳性供者中有 3 名（43%）是在 20 多年前首次献血，这必须引起警惕，因为这些个体在登记为供者后可能已经感染。最后，报告 HEV 血清阳性，尤其是在常规献血者中，以及确定潜在危险因素，都加强了巴西血库进行病毒筛查的必要性。
