[Investigation of sub-clinical infection of hepatitis E virus in blood donors].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence of sub-clinical infection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among blood donors. METHODS: A cluster sampling strategy was used to sample all blood donors from July to August in 2002 in Beijing. Their blood was tested for IgM and IgG antibody against HEV. RESULTS: The prevalence of anti-HEV IgM among blood donors in Beijing was 1.74%. The rate of abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in anti-HEV IgM positive donors is significantly higher than anti-HEV IgM negative donors. Among all ALT abnormal donors, 2.68% can be associated with HEV sub-clinical infection. The percentage is similar with HBV but higher than HCV. CONCLUSION: There are sub-clinical infection of HEV among blood donors, which is one of the cause of abnormal ALT in the donors.