Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
BACKGROUND: Acute hepatitis E in industrialized countries is usually related to intake or manipulation of undercooked or raw meat. Cases of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E have rarely been documented in immunosuppressed patients, mainly after receiving frozen plasma. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A 61-year-old man was admitted to hospital for jaundice. His personal history included disseminated bacillus Calmette-Guerin infection treated with antituberculous drugs. He had received red blood cell (RBC) transfusion 2 months previously, during admission for mycotic aneurysm surgery. Since liver function tests worsened despite stopping antituberculous drugs, other causes of acute hepatitis were explored. RESULTS: Acute hepatitis E was diagnosed by the presence of both immunoglobulin M and hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA. Traceback procedure for the 8 RBC units was carried out, and one of the eight archive plasma samples tested positive for HEV RNA, with an estimated viral load of 75,000 IU/mL. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the same HEV strain Genotype 3 in one of the transfused RBC products and in the patient's serum sample. CONCLUSION: Transfusion of RBCs with detectable HEV RNA is a risk factor for acute hepatitis E in immunocompetent patients in Europe.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Riveiro‐Barciela et al. (2016) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: