NRL Viral Hepatitis, Virology Department, National Center of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Department of Epidemiology and Disaster Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University-Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Braz J Infect Dis. 2022 Jan-Feb;26(1):102329. doi: 10.1016/j.bjid.2022.102329. Epub 2022 Feb 15.
It is debatable whether HIV-infected patients are at greater risk for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection compared with healthy subjects. The reported anti-HEV seroprevalence among different groups in Bulgaria varied from 9.04% to 25.9%, but the information regarding the HIV population is still missing. The aim of the present study was to evaluate hepatitis E seroprevalence among HIV-infected patients in Bulgaria and to analyze demographic and immunological factors associated with HEV infection. Serum samples of 312 HIV-infected patients were analyzed retrospectively. Age, sex, residence and laboratory markers for HEV, HBV, HCV and HIV infection, and lymphocytes subpopulations were collected for all patients. None of the tested samples were positive for HEV RNA. HEV seroprevalence among HIV-infected patients was 10.9%. Males were more affected with the highest prevalence of positivity in the age group > 30 to ≤ 40 years. The documented HIV transmission routes in HIV/HEV co-infected group were heterosexual, homosexual, intravenous drug use (IDU), and vertical with predominace of the heterosexual route (z = 0.2; p = 0.804). There was a statistically significant trend of HIV mixed infection with routes of HIV transmission other than homosexual - heterosexual in HIV/HEV group and injection drug use in HIV/HBV/HCV co-infected group. The route of HIV transmission, in contexts of patients' behavior, was associated with HEV prevalence among HIV-infected patients.
HIV 感染者与健康人群相比，是否更易感染戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）尚存争议。在保加利亚，不同人群的抗-HEV 血清阳性率报告从 9.04%到 25.9%不等，但针对 HIV 人群的信息仍存在空缺。本研究旨在评估保加利亚 HIV 感染者中的戊型肝炎血清流行率，并分析与 HEV 感染相关的人口统计学和免疫学因素。对 312 名 HIV 感染者的血清样本进行回顾性分析。收集所有患者的年龄、性别、居住地和 HEV、HBV、HCV 和 HIV 感染的实验室标志物以及淋巴细胞亚群。没有一个检测样本对 HEV RNA 呈阳性。HIV 感染者的 HEV 血清阳性率为 10.9%。男性受影响更严重，年龄组 > 30 至 ≤ 40 岁的阳性率最高。在 HIV/HEV 合并感染组中，记录的 HIV 传播途径为异性恋、同性恋、静脉吸毒（IDU）和垂直传播，异性恋途径占主导地位（z=0.2；p=0.804）。在 HIV/HEV 组中，HIV 混合感染与除同性恋以外的其他 HIV 传播途径以及在 HIV/HBV/HCV 合并感染组中与静脉吸毒呈统计学显著趋势。在患者行为背景下，HIV 传播途径与 HIV 感染者中的 HEV 流行率相关。
