Hepatitis E Virus Infection in a Hospital from Southern Romania-New Data About a Threat to Public Health

This study analyses all cases of acute hepatitis E diagnosed in a southern Romanian hospital from 2019 to 2023. Patients with positive anti-HEV IgM antibodies were included in three groups: group A1-96 patients with probable HEV infection and ALT levels over 2.5-fold the upper limit of normal (ULN); group A2-44 patients with probable HEV infection and ALT levels under 2.5-fold ULN; group B-43 patients with probable HEV coinfection with another hepatotropic virus. Between 2019 and 2023, 642 patients were diagnosed with acute viral hepatitis. Positive anti-HEV IgM antibodies were detected in 183 (28.5%) cases, HEV being the second most common cause of acute viral hepatitis. Patients from group A were older than those from group B (47.26 ± 15.13 years vs. 35.95 ± 14.83 years, p < 0.01). Patients from group A were less likely to present clinical features compared to those from group B: digestive symptoms (73.8% vs. 97.2%, p < 0.01), jaundice (38.9% vs. 88.4%, p < 0.01), hepatomegaly (64.1% vs. 88.6%, p = 0.02). Patients from group A, compared to patients from group B, had lower levels of ALT (18.2 ± 29.9 ULN vs. 83.7 ± 56.2 ULN, p < 0.01) and total bilirubin (3.08 ± 5.2 mg/dL vs. 7.82 ± 5.25 mg/dL, p < 0.01) at admission. Patients from group A had higher levels of anti-HEV IgM antibodies (4.3 ± 3.22 vs. 2.55 ± 1.34, p < 0.01) than those from group B. Nearly all patients had no history of travel; therefore, autochthonous origin of HEV is involved in a large majority of cases. Currently, hepatitis E virus is not an uncommon aetiology of acute hepatitis in Romania, more often in adults and elderly patients. The epidemiological and clinical features of HEV infections plead for a zoonotic transmission in most cases. The significant number of cases of hepatitis E diagnosed in a single centre in Bucharest justifies the need to include early testing for HEV in patients with acute hepatitis.