Hepatitis type E in a French population: detection of anti-HEV by a synthetic peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Four synthetic peptides were used to develop an ELISA for detecting hepatitis type E infections. Antibodies to HEV were detected in 54 of 64 patients present during two outbreaks previously recognized as being due to hepatitis E virus. Those patients included French soldiers stationed in Chad at the time, and Algerian civilians residing in Algeria and considered as positive controls. Anti-HEV were also detected in 3 out of 74 cases of sporadic non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis in France, and in 2 out of 150 anti-HAV-IgM-positive sporadic cases, also in France, but in none of 278 healthy adults from the general French population. Among a total of 34 anti-HEV-positive cases in French subjects, 32 were shown to be associated with travel outside of western Europe; in two cases, however, HEV transmission appeared to have taken place in Europe. Using this ELISA, a rapid drop in anti-HEV antibodies to undetectable levels following the acute phase of the disease was observed in a high proportion of the infected subjects. Thus, the present test would appear to be more suitable for diagnostic purposes than for epidemiological investigations.
Coursaget
P
P
Institut de Virologie de Tours, Faculté de Pharmacie, Tours, France.
Depril
N
N
Buisson
Y
Y
Molinié
C
C
Roué
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000462:Algeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002596:Chad / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies