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Low prevalence of hepatitis E infection among pregnant women in Madrid, Spain
Author(s) -
Lindemann Maria Luisa Mateos,
Gabilondo Gustavo,
Romero Beatriz,
de la Maza Oihane Martín S.,
PérezGracia Maria Teresa
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.21840
Subject(s) - medicine , subclinical infection , hepatitis e virus , pregnancy , population , public health , viral hepatitis , hepatitis , prevalence , hepatitis a , virology , epidemiology , transmission (telecommunications) , viral disease , hepatitis e , immunology , environmental health , virus , biology , biochemistry , genetics , nursing , genotype , electrical engineering , gene , engineering
Hepatitis E virus, a cause of sporadic hepatitis in developed countries is present in Spain. The aims of this study were to determine whether the prevalence of IgG anti‐hepatitis E virus antibodies has increased in recent years in Spain and the prevalence in a study population at risk of developing the disease following the infection. Serum samples from 1,040 women in the first trimester of pregnancy were studied. The prevalence rate of 3.6% has not increased significantly since 1999 in spite of the large number of immigrants from endemic regions. IgM anti‐HEV antibodies were detected in 0.67% of the patients suggesting that although subclinical infection exists the prevalence is very low. The reasons for the differences in the morbidity of HEV in pregnant women in different geographical areas remain unclear. Good hygienic measures and public health conditions are important factors for ensuring low prevalence of hepatitis E in Spain. J. Med. Virol. 82:1666–1668, 2010. 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.