HEV and transfusion-recipient risk

HEV infections are mainly food- and water-borne but transfusion-transmission has occurred in both developing and developed countries. The infection is usually asymptomatic but it can lead to fulminant hepatitis in patients with underlying liver disease and pregnant women living in developing countries. It also causes chronic hepatitis E, with progressive fibrosis and cirrhosis, in approximately 60% of immunocompromised patients infected with HEV genotype 3. The risk of a transfusion-transmitted HEV infection is linked to the frequency of viremia in blood donors, the donor virus load and the volume of plasma in the final transfused blood component. Several developed countries have adopted measures to improve blood safety based on the epidemiology of HEV.