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Med Microbiol Immunol (2014) 203:273282 DOI 10.1007/s00430-014-0336-3
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in humans living in high pig density areas of Germany
Andi Krumbholz Sebastian Joel Paul Dremsek Anne Neubert Reimar Johne Ralf Drrwald Mario Walther Thomas H. Mller Detlef Khnel Jeannette Lange Peter Wutzler Andreas Sauerbrei Rainer G. Ulrich Roland Zell
Abstract An increase in acute autochthonous hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections has been recorded in Germany. These are suspected to be zoonotically transmitted from wild boar, deer and domestic pig. The latter may represent a major reservoir for HEV. In this study, 537 sera from humans living in Westphalia and Lower Saxony, representing areas of high pig density in Germany, were tested for the presence of HEV-specic antibodies. Among them were 302 individuals with occupational, direct contact to pigs and 235 individuals without direct contact to pigs. Two commercial tests and one in-house assay were applied for the detection of HEV-specic immunoglobulin G (IgG)
Received: 13 November 2013 / Accepted: 25 March 2014 / Published online: 18 April 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
antibodies. Sera were also tested in an assay that detects all classes of HEV-specic antibodies. Depending on the test used, the seroprevalence ranged from 4.1 to 27.9 %. Exposition to pigs was found to be associated with a signicantly higher seroprevalence in subjects with contact to pigs (13.232.8 %) compared with that in non-exposed humans (7.721.7 %). In particular, individuals younger than 40 years with occupational exposure exhibited a markedly higher HEV seroprevalence compared with non-exposed individuals of that age group. In general, HEV seroprevalence increased with age resulting in a similar prevalence level in the age group of 50 years for exposed
and non-exposed individuals. Analysis of all sera by a commercial anti-HEV IgM ELISA revealed 35 positive and 25 borderline samples. However, only one positive serum could be conrmed by an IgM line assay. Selected samples from IgM and/or IgG as well as total HEV antibody-positive individuals were also tested for the presence of HEV
Andi Krumbholz and Sebastian Joel have contributed equally to this study.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00430-014-0336-3
Web End =10.1007/s00430-014-0336-3 ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
A. Krumbholz (*)
Institute for Infection...