title: Emerging viral pathogens in long-term expatriates (I): Hepatitis E virus.
abstract: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the so-called 'emerging' viral pathogens, whose role is increasingly being recognized. To estimate the risk of HEV infection during long-term stays in HEV-endemic countries, 500 serum samples obtained from development aid workers and their family members who had spent on average 9 years in HEV-endemic regions were tested for antibodies against HEV by ELISA and Immunoblot. We found seroprevalence rates of 5-6% with no significant differences related to gender or area of upbringing (raised in an HEV-endemic vs. nonendemic region). Seroprevalence rates did not increase with increasing number of stays or number of expatriate years. None of 77 children and adolescents tested was positive for anti-HEV. The Indian subcontinent showed the highest seropositive rate with 10%. In subjects returning from West and Central Africa, East Africa, South-east Asia and Latin America seroprevalence rates were around 7%. We found a comparatively low seroprevalence rate of 2.1% for the Arab countries and the Middle East. Our results show that there definitely is a risk for long-term expatriates to acquire HEV infection; however, in most of our cases infection seems to have been non- or oligo-symptomatic.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Zentrum der Hygiene, Klinikum der J. W. Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jänisch
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Preiser
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mikulicz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thoma
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hampl
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Doerr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000368:Aged; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies