engleski

The burden of hepatitis E infection in chronic liver diseases in Croatia

In patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), hepatitis E virus (HEV) may lead to decompensation and death. We tested 438 CLD patients (71.0% male ; age 23-84 years) for HEV-IgG antibodies. Reactive samples were tested for HEV-IgM antibodies using ELISA. IgM positive samples were tested for HEV RNA using RT-PCR. HEV-IgG antibodies were found in 15.1% of patients, whereas 4.5% of IgG positive patients had detectable IgM antibodies. Not a single patient tested HEV RNA positive. Seroprevalence increased with age, from 9.7% (<45 years) to 17.4% (>60 years, p = 0.368). There was no difference in HEV- IgG seropositivity related to gender, level of education, geographic region, area of residence, liver disease, or hepatocellular carcinoma presence. Previous exposure to HEV was detected in 15.1% of patients, corresponding with the data from other endemic European regions. Despite the high local exposure, we did not find any evidence of acute or chronic hepatitis E among CLD patients.

alcohol-related liver disease ; chronic liver disease ; hepatitis E virus ; hepatocellular carcinoma ; seroprevalence.

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