Persistent hepatitis e virus genotype 4 infection in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

In general, the hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes acute, self-limiting hepatitis. Prolonged and chronic infections caused by HEV genotype 3 have been found in some immunosuppressed patients in developed countries.

Here we report a Chinese boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who developed hepatitis E during a period of intensive chemotherapy. Twenty months after the initial infection, HEV viremia was reappeared in the patient, with detectable anti-HEV IgM and IgG and modestly elevated serum transaminases. Sequence analysis of the viral RNAs revealed the reactivation of the HEV genotype 4d strain, indicating viral persistence in the patient.

To our knowledge, this is the first chronic case confirmed by the prolonged presence of HEV RNA in china. It is also the first reported persistent hepatitis E infection caused by HEV genotype 4.