Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients, France

Abstract

The rate of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E virus (HEV) in transplant recipients is unknown. We identified 60 HEV-positive solid organ transplant patients and retrospectively assessed their blood transfusions for HEV. Seven of 60 patients received transfusions; 3 received HEV-positive blood products. Transfusion is not the major route of infection in this population.

Keywords: France; blood transfusion; hepatitis E; hepatitis E virus; solid organ transplant patients; viruses.

Figure

Phylogenetic tree of hepatitis E virus (HEV) isolates from 3 HEV-positive blood donors and 3 solid organ transplant recipients (shown in bold), France, compared with reference isolates. The tree was constructed by using partial open reading frame 2 sequences (348 nt). HEV genotypes are indicated at right. A confirmed case of transfusion-transmitted HEV infection requires evidence of infection in the recipient and donor and that the nucleotide sequences of these isolates be identical. The isolates from France were deposited in GenBank under accession nos. KX452928–KX452935; accession numbers, sources, and location of isolation for other isolates are indicated. Scale bar indicates nucleotide substitutions per site.