Al-Sadeq Duaa W, Majdalawieh Amin F, Nasrallah Gheyath K
Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Rev Med Virol. 2017 Sep 6. doi: 10.1002/rmv.1937.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an RNA virus with 4 main genotypes. HEV-1 and HEV-2 infect solely humans, while HEV-3 and HEV-4 infect humans and various animals such as pigs, deer, and rabbits. HEV-5 and HEV-6 infect mainly wild boar. Recently, new genotypes, known as HEV-7 and HEV-8, were found to infect camels and humans. HEV is globally distributed into different epidemiological patterns based on socioeconomic factors and ecology. Although HEV is mainly transmitted through the fecal-oral route, it was also recognized as a transfusion-transmitted virus. Transmission through blood donation was documented worldwide with rising annual observations, accounting for more than 2.5% of all transmissions. HEV infection is usually asymptomatic or subclinical in immunocompetent individuals, so it remains questionable whether there is an urgent need to screen for HEV prior to blood transfusion. Moreover, recent studies conducted in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region indicate that HEV is highly endemic. Here, we provide a review on HEV epidemiology, transmission, and laboratory diagnosis, giving special emphasis to the newly discovered genotypes, HEV-7 and HEV-8. Furthermore, we underscore the findings of recent HEV seroprevalence and viremia studies among blood donors worldwide. We also shed light on similar studies performed among blood donors in the MENA region.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是一种具有4种主要基因型的RNA病毒。HEV-1和HEV-2仅感染人类，而HEV-3和HEV-4感染人类以及猪、鹿和兔子等多种动物。HEV-5和HEV-6主要感染野猪。最近，发现了被称为HEV-7和HEV-8的新基因型，它们感染骆驼和人类。基于社会经济因素和生态环境，HEV在全球呈现出不同的流行病学模式。虽然HEV主要通过粪口途径传播，但它也被认为是一种经输血传播的病毒。全球范围内都记录了通过献血传播HEV的情况，且年度观察发现呈上升趋势，占所有传播途径的2.5%以上。在免疫功能正常的个体中，HEV感染通常无症状或为亚临床感染，因此在输血前是否迫切需要筛查HEV仍存在疑问。此外，最近在中东和北非（MENA）地区进行的研究表明，HEV高度流行。在此，我们对HEV的流行病学、传播和实验室诊断进行综述，特别强调新发现的基因型HEV-7和HEV-8。此外，我们强调了全球范围内献血者中最近的HEV血清流行率和病毒血症研究结果。我们还阐述了在MENA地区献血者中进行的类似研究。
