Department of Virology and Antiviral Therapy, Jena University Hospital, 07740, Jena, Germany.
Med Microbiol Immunol. 2012 May;201(2):239-44. doi: 10.1007/s00430-011-0210-5. Epub 2011 Jul 20.
Due to the increasing number of non-travel-associated hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections observed in several industrialised countries including Germany, there is a substantial interest in the characterisation of risk factors and transmission routes relevant to autochthonous HEV infections. Autochthonous cases are believed to be the result of a zoonotic HEV transmission from pigs, wild boars and deer. Recently, a high prevalence of HEV-specific antibodies in the German domestic pig population has been demonstrated. Thus, one may assume a higher prevalence of HEV-specific antibodies in humans with occupational exposure to pigs. In this study, sera obtained from 24 slaughterers, 14 meat inspectors, 46 pig farmers and 22 veterinarians were tested for the presence of HEV-specific antibodies using a line immunoassay. For comparison, sera obtained from 116 age- and gender-matched blood donors were also included. Twenty eight per cent (28.3%; 30/106) of the swine-exposed humans and 15.5% (18/116) of the blood donors without contact to pigs exhibited IgG-antibodies determined as reactive (i.e. borderline or positive) against HEV. Thus, an increased risk of HEV infection in humans occupationally exposed to pigs and particularly for slaughterers (41.7%; 10/24) was demonstrated.
由于包括德国在内的几个工业化国家观察到越来越多的非旅行相关型戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）感染，因此人们对与本土型 HEV 感染相关的危险因素和传播途径的特征产生了浓厚的兴趣。本土型病例被认为是猪、野猪和鹿传播的人畜共患型 HEV 感染的结果。最近，德国国内猪群中 HEV 特异性抗体的高流行率已得到证实。因此，可以假设与猪有职业接触的人 HEV 特异性抗体的流行率更高。在这项研究中，使用线免疫分析法检测了 24 名屠宰场工人、14 名肉类检验员、46 名养猪户和 22 名兽医的血清中是否存在 HEV 特异性抗体。为了进行比较，还纳入了 116 名年龄和性别匹配的献血者的血清。暴露于猪的人群中有 28%（28.3%；30/106）和没有与猪接触的献血者中有 15.5%（18/116）的 IgG 抗体对 HEV 呈反应性（即边界或阳性）。因此，证明了职业接触猪的人群中 HEV 感染的风险增加，尤其是屠宰工人（41.7%；10/24）。
