title: Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis E virus among healthy individuals in southern Taiwan.
abstract: The seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among 997 healthy individuals aged 6 to 84 years, collected between July 1993 and June 1994 at Kaohsiung-Pingtung area in Southern Taiwan was studied. Of the study populations of vegetable farmers, elementary school children, volunteer blood donors and college students, the prevalence of IgG anti-HEV ranged from 6.4% to 8.8%. In suburban elemantary school children of Mang-Chou Village at Pingtung-Hsien, the seroprevalence rate (9.6%) was significantly higher than the positive rate (1.5%) found in rural aboriginal elementary school of San-Min Village at Kaohsiung-Hsien. IgG anti-HEV antibodies were widely distributed among all age groups, with a significantly higher percentage (13.1%) in the age group of 46-55 years old.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, School of Technology for Medical Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chue
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: I L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G