Spectrum of hepatitis E virus infection in India

✍ Scribed by Mohammed Sultan Khuroo; Vinod K. Rustgi; George J. Dawson; Isa K. Mushahwar; Ghulam Nabi Yattoo; Saleem Kamili; Bashir Ahmad Khan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 672 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890430316

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A solid phase enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that detects IgM and IgG to hepatitis E virus (HEV) was used to study seroepidemiology in 40 healthy subjects and 227 consecutive patients with liver diseases in an endemic area. Fifty‐two of the liver diseases patients (22.9 percent) had acute hepatitis E. In contrast, none of the 40 healthy subjects were positive for IgM anti‐HEV, validating the ELISA assay. Twenty‐three of 25 (92%) patients with epidemic non‐A, non‐B hepatitis were confirmed as having acute hepatitis E. Only 1 of the 10 patients with sporadic, fulminant hepatic failuire of non‐A, non‐B, non‐C etiology was positive for IgM anti‐HEV. Five (31.2%) of the 16 patients with acute hepatitis in HBsAg carriers were positive for IgM anti‐HEV. One patient with acute hepatitis B wascoinfected with acute hepatitis E. Acute hepatitis was a disease of the adult population, with peak attack rates in the second and third decades of life. This disease was seen in only 4 (16%) of the 25 patients with acute viral hepatitis occurring below 14 years of age. Cholestasis was predominant in 25% of patients, enzyme elevation was monophasic, and all patients had clinical and biochemical recovery from the disease. The data suggest that the majority of patients with acute sporadic non‐A, non‐B, non‐C hepatitis in India have hepatitis E. However, fulminant hepatic failure to sporadic nature is rarely from hepatitis E. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.