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Prevalence of hepatitis E virus in children from Northeast of Argentina
Author(s) -
Martínez Alfredo P.,
Pereson Matías J.,
Pérez Paula S.,
Baeck María Inés,
Mandó Pablo,
López Saubidet Ignacio,
Di Lello Federico A.
Publication year - 2021
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.26274
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , hepatitis e virus , virology , hepatitis a virus , virus , population , antibody , medicine , geography , veterinary medicine , serology , biology , environmental health , immunology , genotype , gene , biochemistry
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in a young population from the Northeast region of Argentina. Four hundred and twelve patients under 18 years old, from rural areas of Chaco Province, were tested for anti‐HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Anti‐HEV IgG antibodies were detected in 7 out of 412 patients, accounting for an overall 1.7% prevalence. HEV infection in developing countries is associated to lack of clean drinking water. Consequently, the seroprevalence observed in children in rural areas of Chaco, Argentina, where the access to tap water is less than 15%, was unexpectedly low.