Acute sporadic hepatitis E in children living in Cairo, Egypt

✍ Scribed by Dr. Kenneth C. Hyams; Michael C. McCarthy; Manjit Kaur; Michael A. Purdyt; Daniel W. Bradley; Moustafa M. Mansour; Stephanie Gray; Douglas M. Watts; Mitchell Carl

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 447 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890370407

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Seventy‐three pediatric patients with acute hepatitis and 19 control patients without liver disease living in Cairo, Egypt, were evaluated with a newly developed Western blot assay for IgM antibody to hepatitis E virus (IgM anti‐HEV). The mean age of acute hepatitis patients was 6.4 years (range, 1‐13 years); 56% were male. Among the 73 acute cases, hepatitis A was diagnosed in 30 (41%), possible acute hepatitis B in three (4%), hepatitis E in nine (12%), and by exclusion, non‐A, non‐B hepatitis in 29 (40%). Two additional acute cases were positive for both IgM anti‐HAV and IgM anti‐HEV. None of the 19 control subjects had IgM anti‐HEV. Parenteral risk factors were associated with cases of non‐A, non‐B hepatitis but were not associated with acute hepatitis E. Contact with a family member with jaundice was associated with acute hepatitis A. In contrast to prior epidemics of enterically‐transmitted non‐A, non‐B hepatitis, HEV was found to be a common cause of acute hepatitis in a pediatric population. This study provides additional evidence that HEV may be a frequent cause of acute sporadic hepatitis among children living in some developing countries. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.