Bayram A, Eksi F, Mehli M, Sözen E
Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey.
Intervirology. 2007;50(4):281-6. doi: 10.1159/000103916. Epub 2007 Jun 15.
To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among patients with chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C, serum samples were collected between January and December 2004 from patients with chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C.
There were 190 adult patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 174 with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the study group. As the control group, a cohort of 178 age- and sex-matched individuals without known liver disease was selected.
Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were positive in 26/190 (13.7%) of chronic HBV and 94/174 (54%) of chronic HCV patients. In the control group anti-HEV positivity was 15.7% (28/178). There was no difference in the percentage of chronic HBV patients and control group who were positive for anti-HEV antibody, but the presence of HEV infection was significantly higher in chronic HCV patients.
Our findings suggest that HEV and HCV might share a common route of transmission in our region. We recommend that preventive measures against HEV should be undertaken in chronic HCV patients as superinfection with HEV can cause a more severe pattern of disease in chronic hepatitis patients.
为调查慢性乙型肝炎和慢性丙型肝炎患者中戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）的流行情况，于2004年1月至12月收集了慢性乙型肝炎和慢性丙型肝炎患者的血清样本。
研究组中有190例成年慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）患者和174例慢性丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染患者。作为对照组，选取了178例年龄和性别匹配、无已知肝病的个体。
慢性HBV患者中26/190（13.7%）抗HEV IgG抗体呈阳性，慢性HCV患者中94/174（54%）呈阳性。对照组中抗HEV阳性率为15.7%（28/178）。慢性HBV患者和对照组中抗HEV抗体阳性的百分比无差异，但慢性HCV患者中HEV感染的发生率显著更高。
我们的研究结果表明，在我们地区HEV和HCV可能有共同的传播途径。我们建议对慢性HCV患者采取预防HEV的措施，因为HEV重叠感染可在慢性肝炎患者中导致更严重的疾病模式。
