Department of Virology, National Centre of Microbiology, Carlos III Health Institute Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
J Med Virol. 2012 Jan;84(1):71-4. doi: 10.1002/jmv.22270.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an infectious agent causing hepatitis among humans. Although hepatitis E has been reported from many European countries, its incidence in Europe is largely unknown, and the prevalence of the HEV infection is also unknown for most countries of the region. Antibody to HEV (anti-HEV) was tested on 2,305 serum samples from the general population of the Community of Madrid (Spain) collected in the year 2008 among people aged 2-60 years. Total anti-HEV was tested by enzyme-immunoassay (EIA), and reactive samples were retested separately for anti-HEV IgG and IgM by recombinant immunoblot test (RIBT). Fifty samples (2.17%) displayed reactivity for total anti-HEV after EIA testing, and anti-HEV IgG was confirmed by RIBT in 25 (1.08%). The frequency of RIBT-confirmed anti-HEV ranged from 0.97% among the youngest to 3.61% among the oldest, and displayed a statistically significant trend to increasing with age. The rate of RIBT confirmation was also significantly higher among the individuals aged above 20 years old than among those younger of 21 years. HEV infection would be less frequent in the Community of Madrid than in Catalonia or the United Kingdom, and contact with HEV would be very uncommon among children and adolescents of the region. Confirmation of EIA-reactive samples by RIBT reduced the final numbers of anti-HEV testing as much as 50%, and some findings of this study suggest that such testing protocol would reflect better the real prevalence of anti-HEV in settings of low endemicity than the single testing by EIA.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是一种感染人类的病原体。虽然在许多欧洲国家都有报道过戊型肝炎，但在欧洲，其发病率很大程度上是未知的，而且该地区大多数国家的 HEV 感染流行情况也未知。在 2008 年，对马德里社区（西班牙）的一般人群中 2-60 岁的 2305 份血清样本进行了抗 HEV（抗-HEV）检测。采用酶免疫测定法（EIA）检测总抗-HEV，对反应性样本采用重组免疫印迹试验（RIBT）分别检测抗-HEV IgG 和 IgM。50 份（2.17%）EIA 检测呈总抗-HEV 反应性，25 份（1.08%）经 RIBT 证实抗-HEV IgG 阳性。RIBT 证实的抗-HEV 频率在最年轻的人群中为 0.97%，在最年长的人群中为 3.61%，呈随年龄增长的统计学显著趋势。20 岁以上人群的 RIBT 确认率也明显高于 21 岁以下人群。与加泰罗尼亚或英国相比，马德里社区的 HEV 感染率可能较低，该地区儿童和青少年接触 HEV 的情况非常罕见。用 RIBT 确认 EIA 反应性样本将最终的抗-HEV 检测数量减少了多达 50%，本研究的一些发现表明，与单一的 EIA 检测相比，这种检测方案在低流行地区更能反映抗-HEV 的真实流行情况。
