Author/Editor		Šoba, Barbara
Title		Prevalenca protiteles proti virusu hepatitisa E pri slovenskih bolnikih z velikim tveganjem parenteralno prenosljivih okužb
Translated title		Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus among Slovenian patients with high risk of parenterally transmitted infections
Type		monografija
Place		Ljubljana
Publisher		Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehniška fakulteta
Publication year		2000
Volume		str. 59
Language		slo
Abstract		Hepatitis E virus (HEV) spreads mostly by the fecal-oral route and is endemic in some parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. HEV infections are rare in developed countries and occur mainly among travellers to disease-endemic areas. Recent findings in developed countries suggest the parenteral route as possible route of HEV transmission. These suggestions are based on studies that indicate the significantly greater prevalence of HEV infection among patients with high risk of parenterally transmitted infections compared to general population and blood donors. In order to study the prevalence of antibodies to HEV among Slovenian persons with high risk of parenterally transmitted infections and to evaluate the possibility of parenteral route of HEV transmission we determined the IgG anti-HEV in serum samples obtained from 252 persons with high risk of parenterally transmitted infections - from 39 hemophiliacs, 102 hemodialysis patients and 111 intravenous drug users. All samples were tested with enzyme immunoassays. Anti-HEV IgG positive were 7/252 (2,8%) persons - 2/39 (5,1%) of the hemophiliacs, 3/102 (2,9%) of the hemodialysis patients and 2/111 (1,8%) of the intravenous drug users. None of the seven anti-HEV IgG positive persons was anti-HEV IgM positive. According to the results of our study and to their comparison to the results of similar studies and to the prevalence of antibodies to HEV among Slovenian blood donors we conclude that possibility of parenteral route of HEV transmission among some patients with high risk of parenterally transmitted infections can not be ruled out.
Descriptors		HEPATITIS E HEPATITIS E VIRUS ANTIBODIES, VIRAL DISEASE TRANSMISSION BLOOD DONORS PREVALENCE HEMOPHILIA HEMODIALYSIS SUBSTANCE ABUSE, INTRAVENOUS ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY IGG IGM