Hepatitis E antibodies in Egyptian adolescent females: their prevalence and possible relevance.
Hepatitis E virus has been implicated as a frequent cause of acute sporadic hepatitis among Egyptian children. Moreover, an extraordinarily high seroprevalence rate was previously reported in a semiurban Nile Delta population. A conspicuous feature of hepatitis E is the high morbidity and mortality it can cause among infected pregnant women. We therefore evaluated the prevalence of HEV antibodies in adolescent females using a solid-phase enzyme linked immunoassay based on two recombinant hepatitis E virus antigens. A high prevalence rate (38.9%) was found in 95 apparently healthy adolescent females. The mean age of the study subjects was 21.81 +/- 2.5 (SD) range 16-25 years. Eighty (84.2%) subjects resided in Alexandria, while 15 (15.8%) came from semiurban villages of Alexandria Governorate. An increased prevalence was noted with age, as anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 32.1% and 41.8% of study participants in the second and third decades of life, respectively. Similarly, those illiterate or having received less than primary education exhibited a higher HEV prevalence than those with higher education (46.3% vs 29.3%). The majority of subjects having serological evidence of HEV infection denied previous history of jaundice which shows that HEV infection was subclinical in those cases. Ten (55.6%) pregnant females participating in the study, as well as 48 (62.3%) non pregnant females lacked serological evidence of HEV infection; i.e., 60.01% (10 + 48 out of 95) of women in the childbearing age may be susceptible to infection. This report suggests that HEV is endemic in Alexandria, Egypt; the epidemiologic risk factors associated with HEV infection need further exploration.
Amer
A F
AF
Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University.
Zaki
S A
SA
Nagati
A M
AM
Darwish
M A
MA
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004522:Educational Status; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007565:Jaundice / Q000453:epidemiology; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D018881:Suburban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies