Abstract
BackgroundHepatitis 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.FindingsAn 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.ConclusionsData suggest that HEV infection is a rare occurrence during pregnancy even in regions of western countries with high seroprevalence rates.
Highlights
Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) infection has a poor prognosis among pregnant women from high endemic countries
Though studies on HEV IgG seroprevalence among blood donors [5,6,7] or epidemiologically exposed subjects [8] are available from France, there is a lack of data with respect to pregnant women
By using more sensitive assays, recent HEV IgG seroprevalence studies conducted in France have produced much higher results than earlier studies [7]
Summary
Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) infection has a poor prognosis among pregnant women from high endemic countries. In low income countries with poor sanitation and hygiene, HEV is a common cause of acute hepatitis, and is responsible for waterborne outbreaks and sporadic cases due to genotype 1 or 2 that exclusively infect humans. HEV is responsible for sporadic cases due to genotypes 3 and 4 that infect other animals, and zoonotic and food-borne transmission is suggested [1]. In these countries, the clinical presentation differs from disease in high endemic areas, including older age, more marked male predominance, higher frequency of underlying liver disease, and a lack of severe disease among pregnant women. Only few cases of hepatitis E during pregnancy have been reported [3,4] and
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
