{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T09:59:56Z","timestamp":1768039196063,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767830400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009139","name":"German Center for Infection Research","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["DZIF TI07.001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DZIF TI07.001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009139","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Else Kr\u00f6ner Memorialstipendium"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100017519","name":"Werner Otto Stiftung","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100017519","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018353","name":"European Crohn\u2019s and Colitis Organisation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018353","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Infection with Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) is often asymptomatic but can also lead to chronic infection in immunosuppressed individuals. Although fecal\u2013oral transmission of HEV is well established, transmission by blood transfusion has also been reported. Here, we studied HEV seroprevalence in a cohort of 1000 blood donors (50% male, age 18\u201373 years, mean 35 years) at the University Medical Center Hamburg\u2013Eppendorf in Germany. We found a seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG of 16.6%. Interestingly, 1.3% of the blood donors had positive IgM serology despite testing negative for HEV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Analysis of preceding and follow-up samples showed persistence of IgM antibodies for up to seven months in asymptomatic individuals. In eight individuals, anti-HEV IgM positivity persisted for 0 to 7 months (median 2 months), as confirmed by testing stored samples. This study demonstrates that anti-HEV IgM positivity can persist for more than six months in individuals who had neither clinically overt hepatitis E nor a viremia duration that would allow PCR positivity to be detected.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18010088","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T12:56:55Z","timestamp":1767877015000},"page":"88","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Extended Duration of Anti-HEV IgM Seropositivity in Asymptomatic Blood Donors: Implications for Transfusion Safety"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Jan","family":"Kempski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"},{"name":"Mildred Scheel Cancer Career Centre HaTrics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Mader","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9325-8227","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samuel","family":"Huber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sven","family":"Peine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4273-8586","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jens","family":"Hiller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Julian","family":"Schulze zur Wiesch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"},{"name":"Deutsches Zentrum fur Infektionsforschung eV Standort Hamburg-Lubeck-Borstel-Riems, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3370-3274","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sven","family":"Pischke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"},{"name":"Deutsches Zentrum fur Infektionsforschung eV Standort Hamburg-Lubeck-Borstel-Riems, 20246 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"988","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.25505","article-title":"The global burden of hepatitis E virus genotypes 1 and 2 in 2005","volume":"55","author":"Rein","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Horvatits, T., Schulze zur Wiesch, J., L\u00fctgehetmann, M., Lohse, A.W., and Pischke, S. 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