| Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection mainly leads to an acute infectious disease, caused by liver damage. It is mainly transmitted through fecal-oral route, which usually occurs in young adults, middle-aged and elderly people. HEV can lead to more severe consequences in pregnant women and immunocompromised people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20 million people worldwide are infected with HEV each year, of which about 3.3 million patients develop hepatitis E symptoms. Recently, HEV infection through blood transfusion has received attention worldwide. HEV virus is found in 0.0013% to 0.281% of asymptomatic blood donors worldwide, but HEV is also infectious at very low viral blood concentrations and there are currently no specific drugs for treatment. Therefore, for blood donors, it is necessary to screen their HEV RNA. Currently, HEV screening policies are implemented in only a few countries, including universal and selective screening. There are no clear markers for detecting HEV infection in blood donors. This review mainly discusses the research progress and necessity of HEV nucleic acid blood screening by comparing the status of nucleic acid blood screening in China and abroad. |