Recipient 1 received one HEV RNA+ and one high titer anti-HEV IgG+ blood unit 4 days before the sample collected at 36 weeks after the index study transfusion. The patient died shortly after receiving the HEV RNA+ unit and thus the consequences of that transfusion could not be assessed.
Recipient 2 could be interpreted as having a very early seroconversion post-transfusion, but more likely was infected prior to the index transfusion based on the timing and on the pre-transfusion sample having a relatively high, albeit below cut-off.