Is it the time for Hepatitis E virus (HEV) Testing for Blood Donors in Qatar?
Date
2016Author
Nasrallah, GheyathHedaya, Laila
Ali, Fatima
Alhusaini, Abdellatif
Al Absi, Enas
Sami, Mariam
Taleb, Sara
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HEV is the etiologic agent of acute hepatitis E. Although HEV usually causes a self-limiting infection, the disease may
develop into a chronic or fulminant form of Hepatitis. Sporadic HEV infections spread in several developed countries;
however, outbreaks usually occur in regions where sanitation is low, in particular, in developing countries where
water flooding frequently occurs. In addition, religious background, life style, hygienic practices, and the economic
status have been linked to HEV infection. Fecal-oral is the established route of transmission, however, infections
through blood transfusion were recently documented in many developed and developing countries. This recent
finding raises the question: is there is a need for HEV screening prior transfusion or transplantation? Studies related
to this issue, in the Middle East are scarce. Although the CDC HEV epidemiological map, classifies the Arabian Gulf
countries including Qatar as endemic or highly endemic, to the best of our knowledge, no HEV population –based
epidemiological study were conducted in Qatar. HEV infection is usually detected using IgM and IgG serological tests
and confirmed by molecular tests for detection of viral RNA. Yet, commercially available HEV serological kits are not
validated, and needs further investigation.
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