Sección Virología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay.
Virus Res. 2013 May;173(2):364-70. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.01.005. Epub 2013 Jan 20.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an important public health concern in many developing countries causing waterborne outbreaks, as well as sporadic autochthonous hepatitis. It is transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route. However, zoonotic transmission from animal reservoirs to human has also been suggested. Genotype 3 is the most frequent genotype found in South America and the HEV epidemiology in this region seems to be very complex. However, data about the molecular characterization of HEV isolates of the region is still lacking and further investigation is needed. Our study characterized human HEV strains detected in a 1-year period in Uruguay, by extensive sequence analysis of three regions of the HEV genome. Uruguayan strains were closely related to a set of European strains and in turn, were dissimilar to Brazilian, Argentinean and Bolivian isolates. Additionally, the co-circulation of viral subtypes 3i and 3h was observed. Circulation of subtype 3i had been reported in Argentina and Bolivia whereas sequences of subtype 3h are rare and had never been reported in Latin America. In order to contribute to shedding light over the molecular epidemiology of this emergent infection in the region, we thoroughly analyzed the genetic variability of HEV strains detected in Uruguay, providing the largest dataset of sequences of HEV ever reported in a country in South America.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）感染是许多发展中国家重要的公共卫生关注点，可引起水传播暴发，也可引起散发性地方性肝炎。其主要通过粪-口途径传播。但是，也有从动物宿主向人类传播的动物源性传播的报道。基因型 3 是在南美洲发现的最常见的基因型，该地区的 HEV 流行病学似乎非常复杂。然而，关于该地区 HEV 分离株的分子特征的数据仍然缺乏，需要进一步研究。我们通过对 HEV 基因组的三个区域进行广泛的序列分析，对乌拉圭在一年内检测到的人类 HEV 株进行了特征描述。乌拉圭株与一组欧洲株密切相关，而与巴西、阿根廷和玻利维亚分离株不同。此外，还观察到病毒亚型 3i 和 3h 的共同循环。亚型 3i 的循环已在阿根廷和玻利维亚报道过，而亚型 3h 的序列很少，并且在拉丁美洲从未报道过。为了对该地区这种新出现感染的分子流行病学有更深入的了解，我们对在乌拉圭检测到的 HEV 株的遗传变异性进行了彻底分析，提供了南美洲国家报告的最大的 HEV 序列数据集。
