Recent Progress in Hepatitis E Virus Research

Dear Colleagues,

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was discovered over three decades ago but it remains an enigmatic virus. HEV is hyperendemic in many developing countries where it causes waterborne acute hepatitis that can be severe in pregnant women and patients with underlying chronic liver disease. In developped countries, HEV infection was previously thought to be rare and restricted to travellers returning from developing countries. Thanks to improvements in serologic and molecular tools, the large prevalence of HEV infection in industrialized regions is now recognized. In these areas, HEV is transmitted locally from an animal reservoir and causes acute hepatitis in middle-aged adults and chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised individuals. Extra-hepatic manifestations including neurological and renal manifestations are also increasingly reported. These advances in our understanding of HEV infection were accompanied by major breakthroughs on antiviral drugs and vaccine.

This special issue of Viruses is dedicated to current knowledge on HEV and future directions of research. We hope to assemble a collection of research papers and reviews on HEV life cycle, molecular epidemiology, diagnostic tools, transmission, pathogenesis, treatment and prevention.

Prof. Jacques Izopet
Guest Editor

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