title: Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence Among Blood Donors in Bushehr, South of Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although so far several studies have determined the hepatitis E virus (HEV) prevalence in some parts of Iran, no data exists regarding the HEV seroprevalence in Bushehr province as the southernmost point in Iran yet.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG among the blood donors in Bushehr.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 628 blood donor samples were collected from September to October 2013, after obtaining informed written consents, and analyzed for the presence of anti-HEV IgG using commercial HEV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. All the samples were tested by two ELISA kits and evaluated for liver function test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 105 (16.7%) blood samples were positive for HEV-specific-IgG antibodies, while 523 (83.8%) were negative. The presence of anti-HEV IgG was not associated with gender; however, it was correlated with age. It was indicated that the anti-HEV prevalence increases by age and there was a significant difference between the age groups regarding HEV seropositivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High HEV seroprevalence (16.7%) was observed among the blood donors in Bushehr province. It appears that exposure to HEV increases with age; although, more people should be examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran; The Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naeimi
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mazloom Kalimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Akbar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pourfatolah
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azimzadeh
authors.affiliation: Bushehr Blood Transfusion Organization, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mankhian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Samad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akbarzadeh
authors.affiliation: Bushehr Blood Transfusion Organization, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hajiani
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Technology, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Faramarz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kooshesh
authors.affiliation: The Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran; Department of Hematology, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Khamisipour
keywords: Blood Donors; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Hepatitis E Virus; Iran; Seroepidemiological Studies
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