Table 2. Blood donor demographics and hepatitis E virus seroprevalence by sex, five regional blood collection centres, Scotland, August 2014–September 2015 (n=1,714).
| Donor centre | Sex | Donors (n) |
Median age (years) | Age range (years) |
HEV IgG positive (n) |
HEV IgG seroprevalence (%) |
HEV IgG seroprevalence 95% CI (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | F | 126 | 40.5 | 19–66 | 6 | 4.8 | 2.2–10.0 |
| M | 169 | 43 | 17–70 | 5 | 3.0 | 1.3–6.7 | |
| Total | 295 | 42 | 17–70 | 11 | 3.7 | 2.1–6.6 | |
| Dundee | F | 164 | 46.5 | 19–73 | 12 | 7.3 | 4.2–12.4 |
| M | 152 | 50 | 18–68 | 12 | 7.9 | 4.6–13.3 | |
| Total | 316 | 49 | 18–73 | 24 | 7.6 | 5.2–11.1 | |
| Edinburgh | F | 207 | 47 | 19–70 | 16 | 7.7 | 4.8–12.2 |
| M | 221 | 47 | 17–74 | 20 | 9.1 | 5.9–13.6 | |
| Total | 428 | 47 | 17–74 | 36 | 8.4 | 6.1–11.4 | |
| Glasgow | F | 173 | 45 | 17–71 | 8 | 4.6 | 2.4–8.9 |
| M | 174 | 49 | 17–74 | 7 | 4.0 | 2.0–8.1 | |
| Total | 347 | 47 | 17–74 | 15 | 4.3 | 2.6–7.0 | |
| Inverness | F | 165 | 47 | 18–73 | 8 | 4·9 | 2.5–9.3 |
| M | 163 | 50.5 | 17–72 | 10 | 6.1 | 3.4–10.9 | |
| Total | 328 | 49 | 17–73 | 18 | 5.5 | 3.5–8.5 | |
| All sites combined | F | 835 | 45 | 17–73 | 50 | 6.0 | 4.6–7.8 |
| M | 879 | 48 | 17–74 | 54 | 6.1 | 4.7–7.9 | |
| Total | 1,714 | 47 | 17–74 | 104 | 6.1 | 5.0–7.3 |
CI: confidence interval; HEV: hepatitis E virus.
Seroprevalence differences Edinburgh vs Glasgow (p=0.03), Edinburgh vs Aberdeen (p= 0.02) and Dundee vs Aberdeen (p= 0.04) were statistically significant.