Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important global public health concern. Several studies reported a higher HEV prevalence in patients undergoing regular hemodialysis (HD). In Lebanon, the epidemiology of HEV among HD patients has never been investigated previously. In this study, we examine the seroprevalence of HEV infection among 171 HD patients recruited from three hospital dialysis units in Tripoli, North Lebanon. Prevalence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies was evaluated in participant’s sera using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The association of socio-demographic and clinical parameters with HEV infection in patients was also evaluated. Overall, 96 women and 75 men were enrolled in this study. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were found positive in 37/171 HD patients showing a positivity rate of 21.63%. Among all examined variables, only the age of patients was significantly associated with seropositivity (P = 0.001). This first epidemiological study reveals a high seroprevalence of HEV infection among Lebanese HD patients. However, further evaluations that enroll larger samples and include control groups are required to identify exact causative factors of the important seropositivity rate in this population.
Highlights
Hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a small, non-enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is globally distributed [1]
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year there are 20 million new HEV infections resulting in 3.3 million acute cases and nearly 44 000 related-deaths in the world [2]
171 HD patients (96 women and 75 men) participated in this study and were screened for the presence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies in their sera
Summary
Hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a small, non-enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is globally distributed [1] This virus is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and represents an important global health concern. Orthohepevirus B-D and Piscihepevirus A consist of HEV strains that infect animals but not humans. Orthohepevirus A, which contains 8 genotypes, includes HEV strains that are transmissible to humans. These latter comprise genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, and, more recently, 7 [6]. HEV genotypes 1 and 2, only found in humans, are highly prevalent in developing countries and cause epidemic hepatitis associated with waterborne and fecal-oral transmission. We investigated the current prevalence and associated risk factors of HEV infection in this population in Tripoli, North Lebanon
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