A hepatitis E outbreak by genotype 4 virus in Shandong province, China.
Hepatitis E vaccine was available in China in 2012, but the priority population for immunization is not clear. In 2013, a hepatitis E outbreak occurred in a company of Shandong province, China where most employees moved from other provinces and dined at the company's cafeteria. A total of fourteen (19%, 14/73) case-patients were identified, and three of them had symptomatic infection with one death. The proportion of symptomatic infection was much higher among those aged ⩾50years than those aged <50years (2/2 vs. 1/12, P=0.03), and higher in males than females (3/8 vs. 0/6, P=0.21). Food in the company's cafeteria might be the possible source of the outbreak. The findings from this outbreak investigation indicate that individuals aged ⩾50years, particularly males, might be the population of top priority for hepatitis E vaccination in China.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China; Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Li
L
Zhang
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China; Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Bingyu
B
Yan
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China; Academy of Preventive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China. Electronic address: aqxuepi@163.com.
Aiqiang
A
Xu
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
D000914:Antibodies, Viral
China; Hepatitis E; Outbreak; Vaccination