The frequency of hepatitis E infection in patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis

Hepatitis E virus; it is an RNA virus located in the Hepevirus genus of the Hepeviridae family. Hepatitis E virus infection is clinically usually asymptomatic in children and symptomatic in the adult age group. Although consumption of the meat of infected animals that are not cooked well can be transmitted by blood transfusion, the main transmission route is the fecal-oral route. Hepatitis E infection causes adverse outcomes such as acute exacerbations, acute liver damage, decompensation and death in patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. To investigate the presence of hepatitis E infection; 30 autoimmune hepatitis, 30 cirrhosis and 40 chronic HBV patients were included in the study. Anti HEV IgM and anti HEV IgG were investigated by micro ELISA and HEV RNA by RT-PCR in serum samples obtained from these patients. In the autoimmune hepatitis group, anti HEV IgM and anti HEV IgG positivity was observed with a rate of 13%. In the cirrhosis group, 33% anti HEV IgM and 50% anti HEV IgG positivity were observed. In the chronic HBV group, 7.5% anti HEV IgM and 17.5% anti HEV IgG positivity were observed. HEV seropositivity was higher than expected in all three patient groups. HEV RNA could not be detected in any of the patients. HEV infection should not be ignored in clinical approaches in patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, and patients should be informed about clean drinking water and well-cooked meat consumption in order to prevent HEV transmission. Keywords: Hepatitis E virus, Cirrhosis, Chronic hepatitis, Hepatitis B virus, Autoimmune hepatitis