Hepatitis E in Long-Term Travelers from the Netherlands to Subtropical and Tropical Countries, 2008–2011
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a common cause of acute viral hepatitis. Virus genotypes 1 and 2 infect humans in developing countries by the fecal–oral route. To assess attack rates and disease incidence for travelers, we prospectively studied 604 long-term travelers to subtropical and tropical countries. Participants donated blood samples pretravel and posttravel and kept a diary. A total of 89/604 (15%) pretravel samples were positive for HEV IgG by ELISA, suggesting previous HEV infection. Seroconversion for HEV was found for 19/515 travelers (attack rate 3.7%, incidence 1.8 cases/1,000 person-... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2018 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 24, Iss 6, Pp 1055-1060 (2018) |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Schlagwörter: | hepatitis E / hepatitis E virus / HEV / viruses / travel / long-term travelers / Medicine / R / Infectious and parasitic diseases / RC109-216 |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26802867 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2406.171513 |
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a common cause of acute viral hepatitis. Virus genotypes 1 and 2 infect humans in developing countries by the fecal–oral route. To assess attack rates and disease incidence for travelers, we prospectively studied 604 long-term travelers to subtropical and tropical countries. Participants donated blood samples pretravel and posttravel and kept a diary. A total of 89/604 (15%) pretravel samples were positive for HEV IgG by ELISA, suggesting previous HEV infection. Seroconversion for HEV was found for 19/515 travelers (attack rate 3.7%, incidence 1.8 cases/1,000 person-weeks). We believe there is a substantial risk for acquiring HEV infection among long-term travelers. Although HEV infection does not seem to be a major problem in this healthy cohort, hygienic measures should be stressed in all pretravel health advice, particularly for pregnant women and immunocompromised travelers who are at risk for severe disease.