Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus infection in blood donors from Piauí State, Northeast Brazil

João Paulo da Silva-Sampaio; Raniela Borges Sinimbu; Julia Trece Marques; Abilio Francisco de Oliveira Neto; Livia Melo Villar

doi:10.1016/j.bjid.2024.104466

Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus infection in blood donors from Piauí State, Northeast Brazil

Braz J Infect Dis. 2024 Nov 26;29(1):104466. doi: 10.1016/j.bjid.2024.104466. Online ahead of print.

Authors

João Paulo da Silva-Sampaio¹, Raniela Borges Sinimbu¹, Julia Trece Marques², Abilio Francisco de Oliveira Neto³, Livia Melo Villar⁴

Affiliations

¹ Fiocruz Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brazil; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Hepatites Virais, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
² Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Hepatites Virais, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
³ Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do Estado do Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brazil.
⁴ Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Hepatites Virais, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address: lvillar@ioc.fiocruz.br.

Abstract

A retrospective and cross-sectional study was carried out on blood donors from Piauí State located at Northeastern Brazil to evaluate the prevalence of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) infection. Serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG and IgM using electrochemiluminescence and HEV RNA was tested using real time PCR. A total of 890 individuals were included with median age of 33.4 years and most of them were male and lived at Mid-Northern region of the State. Prevalences of anti-HEV IgG and IgM were 1.35 % and 0.11 %, respectively. None HEV-RNA was detected. This study demonstrated low prevalence of HEV infection in blood donors in this region.

Keywords: Blood donors; Epidemiology; Hepatitis E virus.