TY - JOUR
TI - ROLE OF HEPATITIS-E VIRUS IN THE ETIOLOGY OF COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED NON-A,
NON-B-HEPATITIS IN GREECE - CASE-REPORT
AU - TASSOPOULOS, NC
AU - KRAWCZYNSKI, K
AU - HATZAKIS, A
AU - KATSOULIDOU, A
AU - and DELLADETSIMA, I
AU - KOUTELOU, MG
AU - TRICHOPOULOS, D
JO - Journal of Medical Virology
PY - 1994
VL - 42
TODO - 2
SP - 124-128
PB - Wiley-Blackwell
SN - 0146-6615, 1096-9071
TODO - 10.1002/jmv.1890420205
TODO - ACUTE HEPATITIS; NANBH; HEV; HEPATITIS C VIRUS
TODO - The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of hepatitis E
virus (HEV) infection in a population of Greek adults with
community-acquired (sporadic) non-A, non-B hepatitis found to be
seronegative for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). All
patients admitted to the Liver Unit of Western Attica General Hospital
and diagnosed as having acute community-acquired non-A, non-B hepatitis
between February, 1986, and May, 1990, were enrolled in follow up
studies (n = 66). Nineteen patients with HCV infection and 11 patients
with acute non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis that progressed to chronicity
were excluded. Convalescent sera were tested for antibody to HEV
(anti-HEV) by a fluorescent antibody blocking assay in 33 of 36 eligible
patients. One of the 33 (3%) patients was found to be positive for
anti-HEV. Anti-HEV testing of all 20 available serum specimens from this
patient showed evidence of anti-HEV seroconversion at the fourth week
after the onset of hepatitis. The patient had not travelled abroad or
within Greece or had not had apparent contact with people from foreign
countries for the previous 3 months. These data show that HEV infection
is not a major cause of community-acquired non-A, non-B hepatitis in
Greece. However, the reported case of HEV hepatitis suggests that HEV
may retain a low endemicity in Greece. More extensive seroprevalence
studies are needed for an accurate estimation of the extent of HEV
infection in the southeastern European countries. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss,
Inc.
ER -