Advanced Research Journal of Immunology and Virology Vol. 1 (3), pp. 036-040, November, 2013.© Advanced Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

High prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus among Egyptian blood donors

Endale Tadesse1*, Lobna Metwally2 and Alaa EL- Din Saad Abd-El Hamid3

1Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hawassa University, P.O. Box 1560, Hawassa, Ethiopia.

2The Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

3The Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

*Corresponding author. E- mail: [email protected].  Tel: +251916825929. Fax: + 25146  2208755   

Accepted 9 October, 2013

Abstract 

This study evaluated the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus among blood donors attending blood transfusion Center of Suez Canal University Hospital from March to September, 2010. Four hundred eighty eight (488) subjects which consisted of 137 Anti- Hepatitis C virus positive donors, 35 Hepatitis B surface antigens positive donors and 316 blood donors who were negative Hepatitis B surface antigen, Anti- Hepatitis C virus and HIV were included in this study. Anti-hepatitis E virus (IgG and IgM) was detected in 17.7, 28.57, and 26.28% of blood donors negative for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and Anti- Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive and Anti- Hepatitis C virus positive donors, respectively. No significant (P > 0.05) association was found between anti- Hepatitis E virus positivity and Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity and anti-Hepatitis C virus) positivity subjects. The overall prevalence of anti- Hepatitis E virus antibodies (IgG and IgM) was 20.9% (102/488). Seroprevalence increased significantly with age; from 8.3% in subjects below 20 years of age, 16.94% in 20-34 years of age, 34.5% in 35-49 years of age and a slight decline of 33.3% over those of 50 years of age. All anti-HEV antibodies samples were negative for Hepatitis E virus RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Even though, seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus antibody among blood donors in our study in Ismailia, Egypt is high, transfusion-associated with hepatitis E infection still needs further investigation.

Key words: Hepatitis E virus, Blood donors, seroprevalence.