AUTHOR=Parraud Delphine , Lhomme Sébastien , Péron Jean Marie , Da Silva Isabelle , Tavitian Suzanne , Kamar Nassim , Izopet Jacques , Abravanel Florence 

TITLE=Rat Hepatitis E Virus: Presence in Humans in South-Western France?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.726363

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.726363

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) is one of the most common causes of hepatitis worldwide, and South-Western France is a high HEV seroprevalence area. While most cases of HEV infection are associated with the species Orthohepevirus-A, several studies have reported a few cases of HEV infections due to Orthohepevirus-C (HEV-C) that usually infects rats. Most of these human cases have occurred in immunocompromised patients. We have screened for the presence of HEV-C in our region.</p><p><bold>Methods and Results:</bold> We tested 224 sera, mostly from immunocompromised patients, for HEV-C RNA using an in-house real time RT-PCR. Liver function tests gave elevated results in 63% of patients: mean ALT was 159 IU/L (normal &lt; 40 IU/L). Anti-HEV IgG (49%) and anti-HEV IgM (9.4%) were frequently present but none of the samples tested positive for HEV-C RNA.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> HEV-C does not circulate in the human population of South-Western France, despite the high seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG.</p>