Viruses 2018, 10(6), 285; https://doi.org/10.3390/v10060285
Hepatitis E in High-Income Countries: What Do We Know? And What Are the Knowledge Gaps?
1
EA7310 BIOSCOPE, Laboratoire de Virologie, Université de Corse-Inserm, 20250 Corte, France
2
Unité des Virus Emergents (UVE), Aix-Marseille Université, IRD 190, INSERM 1207, IHU Méditerranée Infection, 13005 Marseille, France
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 5 April 2018 / Revised: 16 May 2018 / Accepted: 23 May 2018 / Published: 25 May 2018
Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a positive-strand RNA virus transmitted by the fecal–oral route. HEV genotypes 1 and 2 infect only humans and cause mainly waterborne outbreaks. HEV genotypes 3 and 4 are widely represented in the animal kingdom, and are mainly transmitted as a zoonosis. For the past 20 years, HEV infection has been considered an imported disease in developed countries, but now there is evidence that HEV is an underrecognized pathogen in high-income countries, and that the incidence of confirmed cases has been steadily increasing over the last decade. In this review, we describe current knowledge about the molecular biology of HEV, its clinical features, its main routes of transmission, and possible therapeutic strategies in developed countries. View Full-TextKeywords:
Hepatitis E virus; clinical; transmission; zoonosis; virology
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Capai, L.; Charrel, R.; Falchi, A. Hepatitis E in High-Income Countries: What Do We Know? And What Are the Knowledge Gaps? Viruses 2018, 10, 285.
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