Abstract
In England, all blood donations are screened in pools of 24 by nucleic acid test (NAT) for hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA. During 2016–2020, this screening successfully identified and intercepted 1,727 RNA-positive donations. However, review of previous donations from infected platelet donors identified 9 donations in which HEV RNA detection was missed, of which 2 resulted in confirmed transmission: 1 infection resolved with ribavirin treatment, and 1 proceeded to fatal multiorgan failure within a month from infection. Residual risk calculations predict that over the 5-year study period, HEV RNA detection was missed by minipool NAT in 12–23 platelet and 177–354 whole-blood donations, but transmission risk remains undetermined. Although screening has been able to largely eliminate infectious HEV from the blood supply in England, missed detection of low levels of HEV RNA in donated blood can lead to a severe, even fulminant, infection in recipients and could be prevented by more sensitive screening.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1805-1813 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Emerging Infectious Diseases |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank all staff members with Microbiology Services Teams, including those within Surveillance, Laboratory, Office, and Clinical.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved.
