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Unchanged high prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) and HEV RNA among blood donors with an elevated alanine aminotransferase level in Japan during 1991–2006

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Summary

Hepatitis E is rare in Japan but is occurring more frequently than previously thought. To investigate whether de novo subclinical infection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) has recently increased in Japan, HEV RNA was assayed in serum samples obtained from 4019 Japanese voluntary blood donors with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of ≥61 IU/l, who are likely to have ongoing HEV infection, during 1991–2006. The overall rates of IgG-class antibody to HEV (anti-HEV IgG), anti-HEV IgM/IgA and HEV RNA among 3185 donors in 2004–2006 were comparable with those among 594 donors in 1998 (5.3 vs. 5.2%, 0.2 vs. 0.5%, and 0.2 vs. 0.3%, respectively). Among blood donors with ALT ≥ 201 IU/l in three groups according to the year of blood collection (1991–1995 [n = 156], 1996–1999 [n = 116] and 2004–2006 [n = 61]), there were no appreciable differences in the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG (5.8, 4.3, and 6.6%, respectively), anti-HEV IgM/IgA (1.9, 3.4, and 3.3%, respectively) and HEV RNA (1.3, 3.4, and 3.3%, respectively). The eleven HEV isolates obtained in the present study differed from each other by 1.7–22.8% in the ORF2 sequence and segregated into genotype 3 or 4. The occurrence rate of subclinical infection with divergent HEV strains has essentially remained unchanged during 1991–2006 in Japan.

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  1. Japanese Red Cross Tochigi Blood Center, Tochigi, Japan

    S. Fukuda, M. Ishikawa, N. Ochiai, Y. Suzuki, J. Sunaga, N. Shinohara & K. Nozawa

  2. Department of Medical Sciences, Toshiba General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    F. Tsuda

  3. Division of Virology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan

    M. Takahashi & H. Okamoto

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Fukuda, S., Ishikawa, M., Ochiai, N. et al. Unchanged high prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) and HEV RNA among blood donors with an elevated alanine aminotransferase level in Japan during 1991–2006. Arch Virol 152, 1623–1635 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-007-0996-z

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