Prevalence of hepatitis E virus infection in Japanese children.
BACKGROUND
Recently, sporadic cases of acute hepatitis and fulminant hepatitis caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV) have been reported in Japan. However, few reports have addressed the issue of HEV infection during childhood.


METHODS
This study included 5 patients with fulminant hepatitis, 30 patients with acute hepatitis, and 309 patients without history of hepatic dysfunction or hepatitis in childhood as control. RNA was extracted from each serum sample, and HEV specific reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed. Anti-HEV immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG were measured by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay.


RESULTS
HEV RNA, anti-HEV IgM, and anti-HEV IgG were not detected in the sera of any of the five patients with fulminant hepatitis. In the 30 patients with acute hepatitis, only one (3.3%) was positive for anti-HEV IgG, and all were negative for anti-HEV IgM and HEV RNA. Of the 309 control patients, 8 (2.6%) were positive for anti-HEV IgG, and 2 (0.6%) were positive for anti-HEV IgM, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The result of patients with fulminant hepatitis suggests that HEV is an unlikely cause of fulminant hepatitis in children. However, the detection rate of anti-HEV IgG shows that a history of HEV infection is not so rare among children in Japan.
Goto
Kenji
K
Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology and Congenital Disorders, Nagoya City University, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan. k_goto@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Ito
Koichi
K
Sugiura
Tokio
T
Ando
Toshihiro
T
Mizutani
Fumihiko
F
Miyake
Yoshishige
Y
Kawabe
Yoshikazu
Y
Sugiyama
Kohachiro
K
Togari
Hajime
H
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D012367:RNA, Viral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase