BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Major hepatotropic viruses continue to be important causes of acute viral hepatitis in developing countries. This work was carried out to detect the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) markers in children with acute viral hepatitis due to hepatotropic viruses (A, B and C) and non-A, non-B, non-C acute hepatitis, and to ascertain the influence of HEV superinfection i...

Hepatitis E virus genotype 3 (HEV-3) is the causal pathogen of chronic hepatitis E. We report here the full-length genome sequence of an HEV-3 strain, isolated from a kidney transplant recipient in Switzerland (SW/16-0282). This HEV-3 strain showed less than 88% homology compared to known strains, suggesting a new HEV-3 strain.

Data on prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Malawi is limited. We tested blood samples from HIV-uninfected and -infected populations of women and men enrolled in research studies in Malawi during 1989-2008 to determine the seroprevalence of HEV, hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Samples were tested for IgG against HEV, total antibodies against H...

Hepatitis E outbreaks are a serious public health concern in developing countries. The disease causes acute infections, primarily in young adults. The mortality rate is approximately 2%; however, it can exceed 20% in pregnant women in some regions in India. The causative agent, hepatitis E virus (HEV), has been isolated from several animal species, including pigs. HEV genotypes 3 and 4 have bee...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an emerging health concern in developing and developed countries, such as Japan. Five cases have recently been diagnosed as hepatitis E. Of interest, 3 of them had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although a previous study demonstrated a lack of association between HEV and RA. One of the other patients developed autoimmune hepatitis and was successfully treated wi...

Background This study investigated the prevalence for hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) and syphilis among homeless in the city of Tehran.   Methods In this cross-sectional study, 596 homeless were recruited in Tehran. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used to study demographic data. Using enzyme-linked immunoassay, and rapid plasma reagi...

Current hepatitis E virus (HEV) negative-sense RNA detection assays have the drawback of false positivity. cDNA synthesis using tag-based primer and Superscript RT-III followed by exonuclease I treatment increased the specificity. Assays could detect as few as 10 copies of negative-sense RNA and could be used in detecting low levels of HEV replication in cells. Virus particles in stool samples ...

Results The results of this study demonstrate that hepatitis E virus (HEV-RNA) infection to be rare (6.25%) in HBVDNA positive cases. Surface antigen (HBsAg) for hepatitis B virus was positive in 18 cases (45%) and IgM Anti HEV was positive in 16 cases (40%). Hepatitis B virus infections, as the predominant causes of liver diseases, HBV-DNA was detected in 32 cases out of 40 cases and HEV-RNA w...

Hepatitis E has been hypothesized as a zoonosis. However, there is no definite conclusion about which animal species contribute to hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in humans. In this study, HEV RNA was detected only in swine bile specimens and not in bile specimens collected from cattle, goats, or dogs. We postulate that swine are the main animal reservoir for HEV.