A serological study of intrafamilial spread from patients with sporadic hepatitis E virus infection.
Intrafamilial transmission is rare in epidemic hepatitis E; its frequency in sporadic hepatitis E is not known. We followed up 86 household contacts (age range 4-75 years, mean +/- SD 32.4 +/- 15.8; 49 males), who were family members of patients with acute sporadic hepatitis E. Of the 86 contacts, 68 (79%) tested negative for IgG anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies. Four (4.7%) had IgM anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies at the time of diagnosis of hepatitis E in the index case; two of these contacts possibly had hepatitis E virus infection acquired simultaneously with that in the index case, and two could have had intrafamilial transmission. None developed serological evidence of hepatitis E virus infection over a period of 49 +/- 18 days after the diagnosis of index case, although a majority lacked IgG antibodies to hepatitis E virus and were likely to be susceptible. This suggests that person-to-person transmission is uncommon in sporadic hepatitis E.
Somani
S K
SK
Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow-226 014, India.
Aggarwal
R
R
Naik
S R
SR
Srivastava
S
S
Naik
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000635:transmission*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012698:Serologic Tests
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M