title: [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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are sub-clinical infection of HEV among blood donors, which is one of the cause of abnormal ALT in the donors.
authors.affiliation: Red Cross Blood Center of Beijing, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Dong-ying
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jia-ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ying-jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D000410:Alanine Transaminase