Prospective study of Hepatitis E Virus infection among pregnant women in France.
BACKGROUND
Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) infection has a poor prognosis among pregnant women from high endemic countries. HEV-prevalence and incidence among pregnant women is unknown in high-income countries such as France. This prospective study was conducted to assess HEV infection in this setting.


RESULTS
An overall HEV prevalence of 7.74% was observed among 315 pregnant women. Seroprevalence was higher in south than in north of France (29.3% vs. 3.6%, p < 0.0001), and women with detectable IgG were older. No IgG seroconversion or IgM detection were observed during pregnancy.


CONCLUSIONS
Data suggest that HEV infection is a rare occurrence during pregnancy even in regions of western countries with high seroprevalence rates.
Christophe
C
Renou
Vincent
V
Gobert
Christophe
C
Locher
Abdelouahab
A
Moumen
Oumar
O
Timbely
Janine
J
Savary
AP-HP, Hôpital Paul Brousse, Virologie, Villejuif 94804, France. anne-marie.roque@pbr.aphp.fr.
Anne-Marie
AM
Roque-Afonso
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G