Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus among Voluntary Blood Donors in Nairobi County, Kenya: A Pilot Study

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dc.contributor.authorFardolo, Ezekiel Kanue
dc.contributor.authorBulimo, Wallace
dc.contributor.authorAluora, Patrick Okoti
dc.contributor.authorGachara, George
dc.date.accessioned2020-12-22T10:28:32Z
dc.date.available2020-12-22T10:28:32Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.descriptionA research article published in Journal of Biosciences and Medicinesen_US
dc.description.abstractHepatitis E is a common infection caused by the Hepatitis E virus (HEV), a primarily enteric virus. HEV disease is mainly spread via stool contamination of water and food supplies. The virus has recently been identified as a global threat to blood safety. The seroprevalence of HEV among blood donors in Kenya remains unknown. This study was carried out as a pilot study to determine the seroprevalence of the virus among blood donors at Nairobi Blood Transfusion Center during the period from September 2018 to January 2019. A total of three hundred and fifty eight (n = 358) plasma samples were used in this study. The plasma was tested for HEV IgM and IgG antibody using a qualitative membrane-based immunoassay (Biopanda reagents Belfast UK). Demographic characteristics of the blood donors were also collected. The age of the blood donors ranged from 16 to 61 years with a mean age of 29 years (±14). Of the study subjects, 36% (n = 130) were females while 64% (n = 228) were males. Overall, 10.6% (38) and 7.8% (28) of the samples were HEV IgG and IgM seropositive respectively. Anti-HEV was distributed among all age groups; however donors aged 20 - 40 years had the highest prevalence. This study shows a relatively high prevalence of anti-HEV among healthy blood donors in Nairobi, Kenya. Further studies would be needed in other population groups to assess the potential benefit of incorporating HEV screening of blood products to the current blood donor selection criteria. Moreover, further studies to determine the circulating genotypes of HEV among this group are required for epidemiological reasons.en_US
dc.identifier.citationFardolo, E.K., Bulimo, W., Aluora, P.O. and Gachara, G. (2020) Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus among Voluntary Blood Donors in Nairobi County, Kenya: A Pilot Study. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 8, 78-85.en_US
dc.identifier.issnOnline: 2327-509X ISSN Print: 2327-5081
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.scirp.org/pdf/jbm_2020121415213791.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/21189
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherScientific Research Publishingen_US
dc.subjectHepatitis E Virusen_US
dc.subjectIgGen_US
dc.subjectIgMen_US
dc.subjectBlood Donorsen_US
dc.subjectTransmissionen_US
dc.titleSeroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus among Voluntary Blood Donors in Nairobi County, Kenya: A Pilot Studyen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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