Perspectives of vaccination against hepatitis E

Hepatitis E, an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans, accounts for more than 50% of acute viral hepatitis in young adults in developing countries with a 20-30% mortality rate among infected pregnant women primarily those in their third trimester. The development of inactivated or live attenuated virus vaccine has been hampered because this virus does not replicate efficiently in cell culture. A vaccine has been developed by an alternative approach through recombinant technology. Preliminary results of the first administration in man conducted in the US at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research indicate the vaccine to be safe and immunogenic and have led to the decision to further evaluate the vaccine in an endemic setting.