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Low seroprevalence and zero incidence rate of hepatitis E in men who have sex with men during a hepatitis A outbreak
Author(s) -
RodríguezTajes Sergio,
Perpiñán Elena,
Leonel Thais,
Lens Sabela,
Mariño Zoe,
PérezdelPulgar Sofía,
GarcíaLópez Mireia,
Pocurull Anna,
Koutsoudakis George,
Forns Xavier
Publication year - 2020
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.25630
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , hepatitis e virus , men who have sex with men , transmission (telecommunications) , outbreak , medicine , virology , hepatitis e , sexual transmission , incidence (geometry) , hepatitis a , feces , epidemiology , hepatitis , immunology , antibody , genotype , biology , serology , syphilis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , microbiology and biotechnology , electrical engineering , microbicide , optics , engineering , biochemistry , physics , gene
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) are both secreted in feces. Despite HEV transmission in Europe is mainly zoonotic, person‐to‐person transmission has not been completely excluded. Men who have sex with men (MSM) constitute a high‐risk group for HAV mostly due to oral sex. We investigated the potential transmission of HEV during an acute hepatitis A (AHA) outbreak mainly affecting MSM. One hundred and two patients were diagnosed with AHA. Sixty‐nine (68%) self‐reported to be MSM, 75% of whom had high‐risk sexual behaviors and 46% had suffered previous sexually transmitted diseases. We collected serum from 85 (83%) patients during AHA. HEV‐IgG seroprevalence was not different among MSM (7%) compared with non‐MSM (8%) patients. Two patients had positive anti‐HEV‐IgM, but all samples tested negative for HEV‐RNA. These results suggest that HEV does not spread by sexual contact or person‐to‐person in our area.