JPAC Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee

Hepatitis E

Infection
Obligatory

Must not donate if:
Less than 6 months from recovery.

Discretionary

If less than 6 months from recovery and HEV RNA negative and anti HEV IgG positive, accept.

See if Relevant

Travel

Additional Information

Hepatitis E is an infectious hepatitis that is usually spread through contaminated food or water. Infection may be associated with travel to countries with poor hygiene/sewage conditions but increasingly, cases of hepatitis E are being identified in the UK usually due to consumption of undercooked contaminated meat. Hepatitis E can affect non-human animals and has been found in pigs in the UK. There have been reports of transmission by transfusion and transplant. Infection in healthy individuals is often symptom free but in people with underlying problems in their immune systems it can be serious and occasionally fatal. The Blood Services currently test for this infection.

Reason for Change

The obligatory deferral has been reduced from 12 to 6 months and a discretion to accept on full recovery added. Additional Information has been updated. The deferral for household and sexual contacts has been removed.

 

Update Information

This entry was last updated in
TDSG-BM Edition 203, Release 29