Transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E in a ‘nonhyperendemic’ country

✍ Scribed by E. Boxall; A. Herborn; G. Kochethu; G. Pratt; D. Adams; S. Ijaz; C.-G. Teo

• Book ID: 110868856
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 96 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0958-7578
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3148.2006.00652.x

✦ Synopsis

summary. Indigenous hepatitis E is increasingly recognized in developed countries, where it may be a zoonosis. We describe the first case of transfusion‐transmitted hepatitis E in the UK from a blood donor who had no history of recent travel abroad.

Follow‐up of the donor and recipients of the blood products was carried out using serological and molecular techniques.

Acute hepatitis E was transmitted to one of two recipients. The infected patient would have received a larger volume of the donor's plasma. HEV subgenomic sequences carried by the donor and recipient were identical.

This is the first case of post‐transfusion hepatitis E in the UK. Secondary transmission of hepatitis E indigenous to a nonhyperendemic country may occur by blood transfusion. It is important that blood donors inform the transfusion service of all post‐donation illnesses so that appropriate interventions can take place.