Table 2

Case–Control Study of Risk Factors for Acquired Hepatitis E Virus Infections in Blood Donors, United Kingdom, 2018–2019

Iona Smith

, Bengü Said, Aisling Vaughan, Becky Haywood, Samreen Ijaz, Claire Reynolds, Su Brailsford, Katherine Russell, and Dilys Morgan

Author affiliations: Public Health England, London, UK (I. Smith, B. Said, A. Vaughan, B. Haywood, S. Ijaz, C. Reynolds, S. Brailsford, K. Russell, D. Morgan); National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Liverpool, UK (I. Smith)

Main Article

Univariate analysis of risk factors for hepatitis E infection in study of blood donor–related transmission, 2018–2019*

Risk factor	Cases, n = 117	Controls, n = 564	Univariable analysis
Risk factor	Cases, n = 117	Controls, n = 564	OR ((95% CI)	p value
Food consumption
Bacon‡	102 (87.2)	343 (60.8)	4.6 (2.6–8.2)	<0.0001
Cured pork meat‡	73 (62.4)	158 (28.0)	4.5 (3.0–6.9)	<0.0001
Ham (off-the bone or joint)	42 (35.9)	148 (26.2)	1.6 (1.0–2.4)	0.04
Other pork products	26 (22.2)	79 (14.0)	1.7 (1.0–2.8)	0.04
Other sausages	11 (9.4)	59 (10.5)	0.9 (0.4–1.7)	0.7
Pate‡	35 (29.9)	83 (14.7)	2.5 (1.6–3.9)	<0.0001
Pigs’ liver‡	8 (6.8)	10 (1.8)	3.7 (1.4–9.8)	0.01
Pork‡	72 (61.5)	269 (47.7)	1.8 (1.2–2.6)	0.01
Pork pie	40 (34.2)	142 (25.2)	1.5 (0.9–2.2)	0.09
Pork sausages‡	95 (81.2)	340 (60.3)	2.9 (1.7–4.7)	<0.0001
Sliced sandwich ham, prepacked‡	81 (69.2)	307 (54.4)	1.9 (1.3 – 3.0)	0.003
Any pork product‡	114 (97.4)	445 (78.9)	10.5 (3.3–33.6)	<0.0001
Chicken	107 (91.5)	443 (78.6)	3.0 (1.5–5.9)	0.002
Fish	84 (71.8)	395 (70.0)	1.1 (0.7–1.7)	0.7
Game	9 (7.7)	18 (3.2)	2.4 (1.1–5.5)	0.04
Other offal‡	16 (13.7)	34 (6.0)	2.3 (1.2–4.3)	0.01
Shellfish	44 (37.6)	191 (33.9)	1.3 (0.8–1.9)	0.3
Fresh fruit‡	109 (93.2)	472 (83.7)	2.8 (1.3 – 6.0)	0.01
Raw vegetables	81 (69.2)	354 (62.8)	1.5 (1.0–2.3)	0.08
Salad vegetables‡	108 (92.3)	460 (81.6)	3.0 (1.5–6.2)	0.01
Supermarket
Supermarket A‡	60 (51.3)	202 (35.8)	2.0 (1.3 – 3.0)	0.001
Supermarket B	33 (28.2)	159 (28.2)	1.0 (0.7–1.6)	0.9
Supermarket C	71 (60.7)	312 (55.3)	1.2 (0.8–1.9)	0.3
Supermarket D	15 (12.8)	114 (20.2)	0.6 (0.3–1.0)	0.05
Supermarket E	58 (49.6)	245 (43.4)	1.3 (0.8–1.9)	0.3
Supermarket F	40 (34.2)	150 (26.6)	1.4 (0.9–2.1)	0.1
Supermarket G‡	40 (34.2)	123 (21.8)	1.8 (1.2–2.8)	0.01
Supermarket H	20 (17.1)	112 (19.9)	0.8 (0.5–1.4)	0.5
Supermarket I‡	33 (38.2)	112 (19.9)	1.6 (1.0–2.5)	0.04
Supermarket J	0 (0.0)	2 (0.4)	1 (NA)	NA
Supermarket K	1 (0.9)	14 (2.5)	0.4 (0.1–2.8)	0.3
Local butcher/shop	17 (7.7)	49 (2.3)	3.6 (1.5–8.8)	0.0
Animal contact
Yes‡	97 (82.9)	389 (69.0)	2.3 (1.4–3.9)	0.0
Cat	48 (41.0)	209 (37.1)	1.2 (0.8–1.8)	0.4
Dog‡	76 (65.0)	297 (52.7)	1.7 (1.1–2.6)	0.01
Rodent	8 (6.8)	24 (4.3)	1.7 (0.8–4.0)	0.2
Pig	5 (4.3)	15 (2.7)	1.6 (0.6–4.5)	0.4
Sheep	2 (1.7)	29 (5.1)	0.3 (0.1–1.4)	0.1
Horse	6 (5.1)	39 (6.9)	0.8 (0.3–1.8)	0.5
Cow	3 (2.6)	20 (3.6)	0.7 (0.2–2.4)	0.6
Alcohol consumption†
Yes‡	95 (81.2)	395 (70.0)	1.8 (1.1–3.0)	0.02
1–10 units/wk‡	66 (57.4)	279 (49.8)	1.9 (1.1–3.1)	0.02
10–20 units/wk	17 (14.8)	71 (12.7)	1.8 (0.9–3.5)	0.1
>20 units/wk	10 (8.7)	41 (7.3)	1.6 (0.7–3.7)	0.3
Underlying illnesses
Medical condition	30 (25.6)	130 (23.1)	1.1 (0.7–1.8)	0.7
Respiratory	4 (3.4)	19 (3.4)	1.1 (0.4–3.2)	0.9
Liver	1 (0.9)	2 (0.4)	1.9 (0.2–21.4)	0.6
Heart	0 (0.0)	1 (0.2)	1 (–)	–
Diabetes	3 (2.6)	5 (0.9)	2.4 (0.6–10.5)	0.2

*Values are no. (%) participants except as indicated. OR, odds ratio. (†Missing information for 2 cases. (‡Significant at univariate analysis.

Main Article

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Page updated: May 18, 2021

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