Semin Liver Dis 2013; 33(01): 050-061
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1338114
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Autochthonous Hepatitis E in Developed Countries and HEV/HIV Coinfection

H. R. Dalton
1   Cornwall Gastrointestinal Unit, Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, Truro, United Kingdom
2   European Centre of Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro, United Kingdom
,
J. G. Hunter
1   Cornwall Gastrointestinal Unit, Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, Truro, United Kingdom
,
R. Bendall
2   European Centre of Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro, United Kingdom
3   Clinical Microbiology, Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, Truro, United Kingdom
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Publikationsdatum:
05. April 2013 (online)

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Abstract

A novel hepatitis virus was long suspected as the cause of outbreaks of unexplained hepatitis with high maternal mortality in Asia. An outbreak of unexplained hepatitis in a Soviet military camp in Afghanistan led one investigator to ingest a pooled fecal extract from affected service personnel. This resulted in the discovery of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) in 1983. Subsequent studies showed that HEV was endemic in large parts of the developing world. Its incidence in industrialized nations was initially attributed to travel-related exposure. For many years after the discovery of HEV, it was considered a “new” virus, and of no relevance to developed countries. This perceived wisdom has proven to be hopelessly inaccurate. Human infections with HEV are not “new,” and are of considerable global importance, including in developed countries.