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.
Institut de Virologie de Tours, Faculté de Pharmacie, Tours, France.
P
P
Coursaget
N
N
Depril
Y
Y
Buisson
C
C
Molinié
R
R
Roué
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