title: Hepatitis E virus seroprevalence among hemodialysis and hemophiliac patients in Tunisia (North Africa).
abstract: The aims of this study are to determine seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Tunisian blood donors and to evaluate its risk of parenteral transmission. Sera collected from 426 blood donors were tested for HEV IgG by indirect ELISA. Individuals were recruited from two national transfusion centers, in the North and the South of the country. Seroprevalence of HEV IgG was then compared with two other groups with increased risk of exposure to parenterally transmitted agents: 80 hemophiliac and 286 hemodialysis patients. Among blood donors, the seroprevalence was estimated to be 4.5%. It was significantly higher in the hemophiliac and hemodialysis groups with 7.5% and 10.2%, respectively, (P = 0.002). No significant correlation was observed for this IgG 1 seroprevalence between age and sex among three studied groups. These results suggest that HEV has a high risk of parenteral transmission and confirm that the low endemicity of hepatitis E in Tunisia was observed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Institute Pasteur of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Yousr
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben-Ayed
authors.forename: Hela
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hannachi
authors.forename: Nissaf
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ben-Alaya-Bouafif
authors.forename: Emna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gouider
authors.forename: Henda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Triki
authors.forename: Olfa
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bahri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: RNA virus; dialysis; hemophilia; parenteral risk