Hepatitis E virus infection in Europe: surveillance and descriptive epidemiology of confirmed cases, 2005 to 2015

Aspinall, Esther; Couturier, Élisabeth; Faber, Mirko; Said, B.; Ijaz, Samreen; Tavoschi, Lara; Takkinen, Johanna; Adlhoch, Cornelia

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.es.2017.22.26.30561

Cited by 135 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The consumption of raw or undercooked pork products has been established as one of the main routes of transmission of infection to humans . In recent years, the number of cases of HEV infection has increased overall in several European countries . Studies evaluating the prevalence and seroprevalence of infection have recognized several “hot spots” for HEV, such as southern France, western Germany and Scotland .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatitis E virus in Spanish donors and the necessity for screening

Rivero‐Juárez

Jarilla‐Fernandez

Frías

et al. 2019

Journal of Viral Hepatitis

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Summary Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents a major health problem worldwide. As the course of HEV cases is often subclinical, asymptomatic infections could represent an important source of viral spread and infection via routes such as blood donations. Before universal screening for HEV in blood donations can be implemented, studies evaluating the incidence of infection are needed to establish the potential risk of viral transmission. This is a prospective longitudinal study that included blood donors recruited at the Hospital de Ciudad Real Transfusion Service between October 2017 and January 2018. Pools of eight donations were tested for HEV viremia by PCR. Positive pools were individually evaluated following the same procedure. Positive samples were tested for anti‐HEV IgG and IgM. Recipients of blood transfusions obtained from HEV‐positive donors were retrospectively evaluated. The prevalence of HEV was calculated. A total of 11 313 healthy donors were analysed during the study period. Four blood donations from four different donors were HEV RNA‐reactive. The prevalence of HEV infection was 0.035% (95% CI: 0.01%‐0.09%), which meant a ratio of one positive donation per 2828 donations. All donors were negative for anti‐HEV IgM at the time of the donation. Five patients received transfusions from HEV‐positive blood donations, none of them showed an increase in alanine aminotransferase levels after transfusion. In conclusion, our study found a high prevalence of HEV infection in blood donors from south‐central Spain. In view of the prevalence, Spanish blood banks should carefully consider including screening for HEV.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatitis E virus in Spanish donors and the necessity for screening

Rivero‐Juárez

Jarilla‐Fernandez

Frías

et al. 2019

Journal of Viral Hepatitis

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“…The first 2 clades are found in humans, pigs, wild‐boar, and deer, and the third (HEV‐3ra) in humans and rabbits . However, we have few data on complete genome sequences of HEV‐3 variants within specific areas of the world, including Europe where increasing incidence has been reported . This limits our understanding of HEV phylodynamics and molecular epidemiology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of hepatitis E virus genotype 3

Nicot

Jeanne

Roulet

et al. 2018

Reviews in Medical Virology

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Hepatitis E virus genotype 3 (HEV-3) can lead to chronic infection in immunocompromised patients, and ribavirin is the treatment of choice. Recently, mutations in the polymerase gene have been associated with ribavirin failure but their frequency before treatment according to HEV-3 subtypes has not been studied on a large data set. We used single-molecule real-time sequencing technology to sequence 115 new complete genomes of HEV-3 infecting French patients. We analyzed phylogenetic relationships, the length of the polyproline region, and mutations in the HEV polymerase gene. Eighty-five (74%) were in the clade HEV-3efg, 28 (24%) in HEV-3chi clade, and 2 (2%) in HEV-3ra clade. Using automated partitioning of maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees, complete genomes were classified into subtypes. Polyproline region length differs within HEV-3 clades (from 189 to 315 nt). Investigating mutations in the polymerase gene, distinct polymorphisms between HEV-3 subtypes were found (G1634R in 95% of HEV-3e, G1634K in 56% of HEV-3ra, and V1479I in all HEV-3efg, clade HEV-3ra, and HEV-3k strains). Subtype-specific polymorphisms in the HEV-3 polymerase have been identified. Our study provides new complete genome sequences of HEV-3 that could be useful for comparing strains circulating in humans and the animal reservoir.

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“…While the epidemiological and clinical features of tropical HEV GT 1 and 2 infections from Asia and Africa have been studied in detail within the last two decades, HEV GT 3 infections have become a relevant topic in various European countries since 2008 . Recently, a European meta‐analysis demonstrated that the region of sample origin, cohort of tested individuals (forestry workers, HIV patients, transplant recipients, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%