Dutch donor data show changing hepatitis E exposure and incidence, 1988–2025

Researchers assessed anti-HEV IgG in Dutch blood donor samples collected in 2023 and compared the findings with earlier serosurveys from 1988, 2000 and 2011. They also analysed HEV-RNA screening results from donations used for solvent detergent-treated plasma from 2013, and from all Dutch blood donations after universal screening began in 2017. The abstract does not report sample sizes or detailed incidence estimates.

In 2023, 24.3% of donors tested positive for anti-HEV antibodies, with prevalence increasing with age. Overall seroprevalence was lower than in 1988, partly reflecting differences between birth cohorts. However, among donors born after 1950, seroprevalence increased in samples collected after 2000. RNA screening showed high incidence initially, a sharp decline after 2015 and an upward trend from 2020; RNA positivity was more common among older and male donors.

The findings suggest substantial shifts in HEV circulation in the Netherlands, including renewed transmission in recent years. They describe donor populations and surveillance results, not disease burden or risk in the general population; the supplied report does not provide figures to quantify the recent increase.