Researchers Recommend Increased Hepatitis E Surveillance In Patients Receiving Donor Stem Cell Transplants

Dutch researchers suggest that patients receiving donor (allogeneic) stem cell transplants should be monitored for hepatitis E virus infection before and after transplantation. Previous studies have shown that the hepatitis E virus can cause hepatitis in patients with compromised immune function. In the current study, the investigators followed a group of 328 patients who received donor stem cell transplants. About 13 percent of participants had hepatitis E virus present in their blood prior to the transplant. After transplantation, 2.4 percent of patients developed hepatitis E virus infection; 63 percent of these patients developed chronic infection. Half of those who developed hepatitis E virus infection cleared the infection in a median time of 6.3 months, and the others died in a median time of 4.1 months. Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that recipients of donor stem cell transplants be screened for the presence of the hepatitis E virus before and after transplantation. They also recommend that physicians should consider hepatitis E virus when diagnosing the cause of liver problems in patients who underwent donor stem cell transplantation. For more information, please see the study in Blood (abstract).