title: Hepatitis E in Canadian blood donors.
abstract: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a virus of emerging importance to transfusion medicine as studies on blood donors and other populations demonstrate that the prevalence of endemic cases is higher than previously recognized and the risk to vulnerable transfusion recipients is not insignificant.
  
  
  
  We carried out an HEV prevalence study on 13,993 Canadian blood donors with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on all donors and antibody testing on a subset of 4102 donors. HEV antibody-positive and age- and sex-matched antibody-negative donors were invited to participate in a scripted telephone interview about risk factors.
  
  
  
  There were no PCR-positive samples found (95% confidence interval [CI], 0%-0.026%). The seroprevalence of HEV in our tested population was 5.9% (95% CI, 5.16%-6.59%). HEV antibody positivity was associated with male sex and increasing age. In case-control analysis history of living outside Canada (odds ratio [OR], 2.9; 95% CI, 1.56-5.32) and contact with farm animals (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.01-2.28) were associated with HEV seropositivity.
  
  
  
  This is the largest data set to date on HEV infection in Canada. Results suggest low lifetime exposure to HEV and that infectious donations are rare.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Blood Services, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fearon
authors.affiliation: Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.|University of Ottawa, School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventative Medicine, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheila F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Héma-Québec, Saint-Laurent, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delage
authors.affiliation: Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Scalia
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Héma-Québec, Saint-Laurent, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, Canadian Blood Services, BC and Yukon, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bigham
authors.affiliation: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weger
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Promotion Research, University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
authors.forename: Sneha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhu
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Immunodiagnostics, Bloodborne Pathogens and Hepatitis, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andonov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution