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Published on: June 26, 2020
Hepatitis E virus infection in hemodialysis patients: a seroepidemiological survey in Iran
Mahnaz Taremi1, Manouchehr Khoshbaten, Latif Gachkar
1National Research Department of Foodborne Diseases, The Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Taleghani Hospital, Tabnak St., Evin, Tehran, Iran. mmtaremi@yahoo.com
Background:
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) has a global distribution and is known to have caused large waterborne epidemics of icteric hepatitis. Transmission is generally via the fecal-oral route. Some reports have suggested parenteral transmission of HEV. Anti-HEV prevalence data among chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients are few and give conflicting results.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted in August of 2004. We tested 324 chronic HD patients attending three different units in the city of Tabriz, northwestern part of Iran, for anti-HEV antibody. A specific solid- phase enzyme-linked immunoassay (Diapro, Italy) was used.
Results:
The overall seroprevalence of hepatitis E was 7.4 %(95% CI: 4.6%-10.6%). The prevalence rate of HBV and HCV infection were 4.6% (95% CI: 2.3%-6.9%) and 20.4% (95% CI: 16%-24.8%), respectively. No significant association was found between anti-HEV positivity and age, sex, duration of hemodialysis, positivity for hepatitis B or C virus infection markers and history of transfusion.
Conclusion:
We observed high anti-HEV antibody prevalence; there was no association between HEV and blood borne infections (HBV, HCV, and HIV) in our HD patients. This is the first report concerning seroepidemiology of HEV infection in a large group of chronic HD individuals in Iran.
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