Author/Authors :
Ehteram, Hassan Department of Pathology - Faculty of Medicine - Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan , Ramezani, Amitis Departments of Clinical Research and Vacination - Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran , Eslamifar, Ali Departments of Clinical Research and Vacination - Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran , Sofian, Masoomeh Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak , Banifazl, Mohammad Iranian Society for Supporting Patients with Infectious Diseases, Tehran , Ghassemi, Shahin Firoozgar Hospital - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Aghakhani, Arezoo Departments of Clinical Research and Vacination - Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran , Mashayekhi, Parisa Departments of Clinical Research and Vacination - Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran
Abstract :
Background and Objectives: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major public health concern in developing countries. HEV
transmission occurs primarily by the fecal-oral route. It has also been reported that blood donors are potentially able to cause
transfusion-associated hepatitis E in endemic areas. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV infection
among volunteer blood donors in Central province of Iran in 2012.
Material and Methods: A total of 530 consecutive blood donor samples collected from Blood Transfusion Organization,
Central Province of Iran. All samples were tested for the presence of IgG Hepatitis E antibody (anti-HEV) using enzymelinked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: From 530 blood donors, 91.9% were male and 8.1% were female. Overall, anti-HEV was found in 76 of 530
samples (14.3%). There was no significant difference in HEV seropositivity between the subjects regarding gender and area
of residence (urban vs. rural). Anti-HEV was distributed among all age groups. Although people aged 31-50 years had the
highest prevalence, but there was no statistical difference between the age groups.
Conclusion: This study shows a relatively high prevalence of anti-HEV in the blood donors of Central province of Iran.
More investigations are needed to assess the potential benefit of adding HEV screening of blood products to the current blood
donor selection criteria.
