1.Status of hepatitis E virus infection in unpaid blood donors in Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province
Shufeng CAI ; Zimiao ZHU ; Yanfei LIU ; Weirui XU ; Shiyao ZHU ; Lulu YE
Chinese Journal of Primary Medicine and Pharmacy 2024;31(6):863-868
Objective:To investigate the status of hepatitis E virus infection in unpaid blood donors in Wenzhou.Methods:A total of 5 241 blood samples were selected from donors who successfully donated blood between October 2022 and March 2023. These samples were tested for hepatitis E virus (HEV) through HEV-IgG antibodies, HEV-IgM antibodies, and nucleic acid tests (HEV RNA). Samples that tested positive for HEV RNA underwent quantitative detection and sequencing. Data regarding the blood donors were collected, the positive rates of each test result were recorded, and the HEV infection status among different populations was analyzed.Results:The positive rate of the HEV-IgG antibody test was 23.60% (1 237/5 241), while the positive rate of the HEV-IgM antibody test was 0.29% (15/5 241). The positive rate of the HEV RNA test was 0.08% (4/5 241). The positive rate of the HEV-IgG test increased with age ( χ2 = 379.493, P < 0.05), and males had a higher positive rate than females ( χ2 = 5.12, P < 0.05). Both the positive rates of HEV-IgG and HEV-IgM tests increased as the number of blood donations increased ( χ2 = 40.87, 8.30, both P < 0.05). Furthermore, the positive rates were significantly higher in 2023 than in 2022 ( χ2 = 51.03, 13.35, both P < 0.05), and they were also significantly higher in spring than in winter ( χ2 = 51.03, 13.35, both P < 0.05). Only one HEV RNA-positive blood donor tested positive for both HEV-IgG and HEV-IgM antibodies, while the remaining three donors tested negative. Only one case was genotyped, and it belonged to genotype Ⅳ. Conclusion:The incidence of HEV infection among unpaid blood donors in Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province is relatively high, with the prevalent HEV genotype being type Ⅳ. Characteristics such as sex, age, and the number of blood donations can be utilized as auxiliary screening reference indicators.