Meta-Analysis of Human IgG anti-HEV Seroprevalence in Industrialized Countries and a Review of Literature

Lisandru Capai (1) , Alessandra Falchi (1) , Remi Charrel (2)

1 EA7310 - Laboratoire de Virologie [UNIV Corse-Inserm]
2 UVE - Unité des Virus Emergents

Although Hepatitis E is increasingly described as a major cause of liver disease in industrialized countries, the epidemiology is far from being fully elucidated. We provide here a comprehensive review of documented clusters of cases, and of serological studies conducted in populations with distinct types of exposure. Seroprevalence rates range from <5% to >50% depending on the countries and the groups of population. Such discrepancies can be attributed to the type of serological assay used, but this solves only a part of the problem. We performed a meta-analysis of studies performed with the broadly used Wantai HEV-IgG ELISA and found striking differences that remain difficult to understand with the current knowledge of transmission pathways.

Mots clés: epidemiology; Hepatitis E virus; Meta-analysis; seroprevalence; industrialized countries

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Lisandru Capai, Alessandra Falchi, Remi Charrel. Meta-Analysis of Human IgG anti-HEV Seroprevalence in Industrialized Countries and a Review of Literature. Viruses, 2019, 11 (1), pp.84. ⟨10.3390/v11010084⟩. ⟨hal-02633533⟩