Research Articles

Hepatitis e virus infection in fulminant hepatitis patients and an apparently healthy population in Bangladesh

This is the first study comparing hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Bangladesh in fulminant hepatitis (FH) patients presumed to have a viral cause and in the apparently healthy population. Sera from 22 FH patients were analyzed for antibodies to hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C and D viruses, and HEV and for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Anti-HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) was detected in the sera of 63.6% of patients, whereas 35.7% were positive for HBsAg. A high prevalence of HEV infection (83.3%) was noted in the HBV carriers. Serum samples from 273 apparently healthy individuals were tested for antibodies to HAV and HEV. Anti-HEV IgM was detected in 7.3% of the samples. The seroprevalence of HAV differed from that of HEV in the same population because all samples were negative for anti-HAV IgM. These data indicate that HEV infection is highly endemic in Bangladesh.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. B. Labrique, K. Zaman, Z. Hossain, P. Saha, M. Yunus, A. Hossain, J. Ticehurst, and K. E. Nelson Population Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Antibodies in Rural Bangladesh Am J Trop Med Hyg, November 1, 2009; 81(5): 875 - 881. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]