Antibodies to hepatitis E virus among chinese patients with acute hepatitis in Taiwan

✍ Scribed by Jung-Fa Tsai; Jen-Eing Jeng; Wen-Yu Chang; Zu-Yau Lin; Juei-Hsiung Tsai

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 374 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890430405

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (anti‐HEV) was investigated in patients with acute hepatitis, and correlated with the clinical features. Sera from 110 patients with acute hepatitis and 60 healthy controls were tested for anti‐HEV, antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti‐HCV), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). There were significant differences in the prevalence of anti‐HEV, anti‐HCV, and HBsAg between patients and controls (21.8% vs. 0%, 16.3% vs. 1.6% and 58.1% vs. 18.0%, respectively). Anti‐HEV was detected in 6 (25.0%) of 24 patients with anti‐HCV, 6 (9.3%) of 64 patients with HBsAg, and another 6 (22.2%) of 27 patients with acute hepatitis non‐A, non‐B, non‐C. Anti‐HEV was found in 15 men and three women, whose ages ranged from 34 to 75 (median, 57) years old. The median age of patients with anti‐HEV was older than that in patients without this antibody (57 vs. 38 years; P = 0.001). The prevalence of anti‐HEV in patients with anti‐HCV alone (35.2%) was higher than that (11.1%) in patients with HBsAg alone (P = 0.03). Compared to patients without anti‐HEV, HEV‐infected patients had a higher frequency of travel to a foreign country (P = 0.0001), had a lower HBsAg rate (P = 0.019), and had higher serum alkaline phosphatase levels (P = 0.04) and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase levels (P = 0.01). In conclusion, HEV infection occurs in 22.2% of patients with acute hepatitis non‐A, non‐B, non‐C. HEV superinfection may occur in patients with chronic hepatitis B or C virus infection. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.