Hepatitis E--an important cause of imported non-A, non-B hepatitis among migrant workers in Qatar

In 1985, Glynn et al. [Journal of Medical Virology 17:371-375] reported on epidemic viral hepatitis in Qatar and concluded that 72% (91/126) had acute enterically transmitted non-A, non-B viral hepatitis (ET-NANBH). Most of the patients (98%) presented within 8 weeks of arrival in Qatar and were migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent. The data was reanalysed for evidence of infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV). Seventy-eight of 91 (86%) of stored sera were still suitable for analysis since collection in 1981. A newly described enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for both IgG and IgM anti-HEV was used (Abbott Laboratories, Delkenheim, Germany); 59/78 (76%) were positive for either or both assays. All but two were from the Indian subcontinent. The data suggest that HEV was the major cause of ET-NANBH in Qatar in 1981, particularly among newly arrived migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent.