Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of acute sporadic hepatitis E in Egyptian children.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is thought to be a cause of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B (ET-NANB) hepatitis. Waterborne epidemics have been recorded in many developing countries, mainly affecting young-to-middle-aged adults; sporadic infection and overt illness in children are rare. However, a convenient and sensitive diagnostic test for HEV infection is not yet available. We now report the use of a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) that detects IgM and IgG antibody to HEV. In a prospective study of endemic acute hepatitis during 1986 in rural Benha, Egypt, 15 (42%) of 36 children with NANB hepatitis (from whom convalescent-phase sera were available every 3 months to 9 or 12 months) were positive for anti-HEV-IgG by ELISA. Of 20 sera from healthy Benha children (controls), 5 (25%) were also positive for anti-HEV-IgG. When evaluated for anti-HEV-IgM, 6 of the 15 IgG-positive children, but none of the controls, were IgM positive and were thus regarded as having confirmed acute HEV infections. These 6 cases together with 2 presumptive cases (IgM negative, IgG seroconversion from positive to negative) presented sporadically over 9 months. This ELISA is a convenient method for the diagnosis of HEV infection; we have shown that the disease is present in Egypt, that it can occur endemically as sporadic cases, and that children do have overt infection.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
R
R
Goldsmith
P O
PO
Yarbough
G R
GR
Reyes
K E
KE
Fry
K A
KA
Gabor
M
M
Kamel
S
S
Zakaria
S
S
Amer
Y
Y
Gaffar
D000293:Adolescent; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004534:Egypt; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M