Hepatitis E virus is effectively inactivated in platelet concentrates by ultraviolet C light.

Background and Objectives As previous investigations have shown, THERAFLEX UV-Platelets, a UVC-based pathogen inactivation (PI) system, is effective against non-enveloped transfusion-relevant viruses such as hepatitis A virus (HAV), which are insensitive to most PI treatments for blood products. This study investigated the PI efficacy of THERAFLEX UV-Platelets against HEV in platelet concentrates (PCs). Materials and Methods Buffy coat-derived PCs in additive solution were spiked with cell culture-derived HEV and treated with the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system using various doses of UVC (0 center dot 05, 0 center dot 10, 0 center dot 15 and 0 center dot 20 (standard) J/cm(2)). Titres of infectious virus in pre- and post-treatment samples were determined using a large-volume plating assay to improve the detection limit of the virus assay. Results THERAFLEX UV-Platelets dose-dependently inactivated HEV in PCs. The standard UVC dose inactivated the virus to below the limit of detection, corresponding to a mean log reduction of greater than 3 center dot 5. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that the THERAFLEX UV-Platelets system effectively inactivates HEV in PCs.