Abstract: Objectives To investigate the characteristics of hepatitis E virus(HEV) and co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) among blood donors in Hefei, and analyze the relationship between HEV and HBsAg/HBV DNA detection results. Methods A total of 1 301 blood samples collected from voluntary blood donors in Hefei from July 1, 2021 to February 25, 2023 were randomly selected to be included in the study. According to HBsAg and HBV DNA detection results, they were divided into 169 HBsAg positive blood donors,102 HBsAg negative blood donors, 1 030 eligible blood donors. Plasma HEV Ag、anti HEV IgM and anti HEV-IgG were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) diagnostic kit. According to the results of anti-HEV antibody detection, 100 qualified group specimens, 20 HBsAg positive group specimens and 30 HBsAg negative group specimens were further detected by RT-PCR. The statistical analysis focused on the presence of anti HEV-IgM and anti HEV-IgG antibodies in the three groups. Results All 1 301 samples from 3 groups were negative for HEV Ag. The positive rate of HBsAg negative group was 22.55%, compared with HBsAg positive group(22.55% vs 17.75%), there was no significant difference(P>0.05),but compared with the eligible blood donors (22.55% vs 13.79%), the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).Anti HEV-IgM+IgG antibodies were detected in both the HBsAg positive group and eligible blood donors group, with positive rates of 1.18% and 0.29%, respectively. Meanwhile, the positive rate of anti-HEV-IgM antibody was 0.39% in the eligible blood donors. No HEV RNA was detected in the plasma of the three groups of donors. The positive rate of anti HEV antibody in the HBsAg negative group increased with age, and the difference was significant(P<0.01). In the HBsAg positive group, the positive rate of anti HEV antibody was the highest prevalent among 41 to 50 years(27.27% and 27.04%), followed by the aged 51 to 55 years. The positive rate of anti HEV antibody in different gender blood donors was 16.74% in males and 11.28% in females(P<0.05) .The male were more frequent than females 3.5∶1 for HEV infection. Conclusion Hepatitis E virus co-infection among HBV DNA reactive blood donors in Hefei, mostly with past infection but also acute infection,and the majority HEV infectiont rate in the occult infection status of HBV.

Key words: Blood donors, Hepatitis B surface antigen detection, Hepatitis E virus, Co-infection