title: Hepatitis E virus antibody prevalence, RNA frequency, and genotype among blood donors in Cambodia (Southeast Asia).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent studies conducted in developed countries described hepatitis E virus (HEV) as an emerging infectious threat to blood safety. However, data on HEV among blood donors from southeast Asia are lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between July and August 2014, we assessed the presence of HEV immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM in 301 Cambodian blood donors. All samples were further tested for the presence of HEV RNA using an in-house reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. ORF2/ORF3 phylogenetic analysis was performed on positive HEV RNA specimens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found HEV IgG in 28.2% of blood donors from Cambodia. Three blood donors tested positive for HEV IgM with three distinct patterns: IgM(+)/IgG(-)/RNA(-) (n = 1), IgM(+)/IgG(+)/RNA(-) (n = 1), and IgM(+)/IgG(+)/RNA(+) (n = 1). Thus, the prevalence rates of HEV IgM and HEV RNA were 1.0 and 0.3%. Interestingly, the viremic blood donor harbored a HEV strain that belonged to Genotype 3 (HEV-3) and clustered with a Cambodian riverine HEV-3 isolate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due to the high frequency of Cambodian blood donors with positive HEV IgG, we conclude that HEV is endemic in this country. Large-scale studies must be considered to determine whether Cambodian blood donation screening is warranted to enhance blood safety in regard to HEV. In addition, our findings suggest that river water may be a significant source of exposure to HEV-3.
authors.affiliation: HIV/Hepatitis Unit, Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.|Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7.
authors.forename: Janin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nouhin
authors.affiliation: HIV/Hepatitis Unit, Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Sophearot
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prak
authors.affiliation: Unité d'Epidémiologie des Maladies Emergentes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Yoann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Madec
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Public Health Unit, Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.|Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barennes
authors.affiliation: National Blood Transfusion Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weissel
authors.affiliation: National Blood Transfusion Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Kimcheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hok
authors.affiliation: UMR 1161 Virologie, Anses Laboratoire de Santé Animale, Maisons-Alfort, France.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pavio
authors.affiliation: HIV/Hepatitis Unit, Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. frouet@pasteur-kh.org.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rouet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D058731:Blood Safety; D002160:Cambodia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D045483:Rivers / Q000821:virology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral