VIRAL HEPATITIS-E EPIDEMIOLOGIC AND CLINI CAL-DATA IN FRANCE AND IN THE WORLD

Two distinct agents responsible for acute viral hepatitis are transmit ted by the fecal-oral route, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E v irus (HEV). Hepatitis A should not any more be regarded as a mild chil d disease. Progress in hygiene practices in the industrialized countri es have made rare the VHA exposures, increasing individual susceptibil ity and epidemic risk. VHA infections, occuring later in the life, are more often symptomatic and sometimes life-threatening. Definitive dia gnosis is easy to perform with an anti-HAV IgM immunocapture assay. Si nce recent identification of HEV, the diagnosis by exclusion of enteri cally transmitted non-A, non-B viral hepatitis should be specified by the mean of the first commercial ELISA kits for anti-HEV detection, es pecially among travelers returning from endemic countries. In every ca se, a cost-saving and rational process should lead to the aetiologic d iagnosis of acute viral hepatitis.