Hepatitis E virus seroprevalence in Canada
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Date
2016
Authors
Weger, Steven
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Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide, predominantly in developing areas where it is endemic. Recently, HEV has gained more attention in the developed world, prompting several industrialized countries to assess seroprevalence rates using blood donor samples. The seroprevalence among Canadian blood donor samples collected from July 2013 - December 2015 was 5.84% (240/4,107). None of the 14,053 samples tested were positive for HEV RNA. There was no significant increase in the high-risk groups we tested. HIV was determined to be a significant risk-factor for HEV infection in a retrospective study of Kenya-based sex-worker cohorts, but not so in a Canadian cohort of HIV-positive intravenous drug users. Overall, HEV seroprevalence in Canada is lower than that published in other countries. This together with failing to detect HEV RNA in Canadian blood donations indicates that HEV currently poses low risk to the Canadian blood supply.
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Keywords
Hepatitis E, HEV, Seroprevalence, Blood borne