Hepatitis E virus in Cuba

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) has a global distribution and is known to have caused large waterborne epidemics of icteric hepatitis. The transmission is primarily fecal-oral. Some reports have suggested parenteral transmission of HEV from its association to hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection, or due to the development of hepatitis E after blood transfusion. Though most of the developing countries in Asia and Africa have been shown to be endemic f or HEV infection, studies in the Latin American countries have been limited to Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela. We have developed an enzyme immunoassay ( EIA) for IgM and IgG antibodies to a recombinant protein containing antigen ic epitopes of the ORF3 region of the HEV. This system, as well as a commer cial kit that includes ORF2 and ORF3 antigenic epitopes, were used to study the prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in a sample of Cuban blood donors, a cute hepatitis cases and individuals subjected to plasmapheresis. The incid ence of anti-HEV IgM was compared with other viral hepatitis markers. Our f indings suggest that infections due to HEV are an important viral cause of sporadic hepatitis in Cuba, and that HEV is endemic to this region of the w orld. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.