title: Hepatitis E virus infections in patients with acute hepatitis non-A-D in Sweden.
abstract: A total of 12 patients previously treated for acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology were retrospectively found to be anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) IgG-positive. Four patients were anti-HEV IgM- and IgG-positive consistent with an acute HEV infection. All 4 had travelled to or were immigrants from HEV-endemic countries. One anti-HEV IgM-negative patient seroconverted from anti-HEV IgG-negative to positive and 3 from anti-HEV IgG-positive to negative in 2 consecutive serum samples. Of the remaining 4 patients without anti-HEV IgM, 3 had a history of recent travel to an HEV-endemic country. Most patients were young adults and all but 1 recovered from the hepatitis. One patient with a fulminant hepatitis was anti-HEV IgG-positive when tested 4 months after a journey to Turkey. She died from her fulminant hepatitis shortly after admission. All the other patients but 1 normalized their serum liver enzymes within 1-2 months after the onset of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: I K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Mushahwar
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Norkrans
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Weiland
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nordenfelt
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012698:Serologic Tests; D015996:Survival Rate; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies