title: Hepatitis E virus seroprevalence in children living in rural Ghana.
abstract: Large outbreaks of hepatitis E virus have been reported in warm climates with poor sanitation although it exists in endemic form in these areas too. This oro-fecally transmitted infection has been described mainly in adults with very little data from children. This study looked at seroprevalence in children resident in a rural district in Ghana with very little pipe-borne water supply. Sera from 803 randomly selected pupils aged 6-18 years were evaluated for anti-HEV. The overall seroprevalence was 4.4% with seroprevalence increasing from 1% in 6-7 year olds to 8.1% in 16-18 year olds. Females had a significantly higher seroprevalence than males. Anti-seroprevalence was also not influenced by the presence of hepatitis B and C virus markers. Anti-HEV seroprevalence was however, far lower than suspected seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus which is also transmitted oro-fecally. The short life of anti-HEV may be responsible for this low seroprevalence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599-7400, USA.
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Martinson
authors.forename: V Y
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Marfo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Degraaf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012423:Rural Health; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018505:Waste Management; D014871:Water Microbiology