Clinical characteristics and molecular epidemiology of hepatitis E in Shenzhen, China: a shift toward foodborne transmission of hepatitis E virus infection.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in China. Recently, a shift in molecular epidemiology from hepatitis E genotype 1 (HEV-1) to hepatitis E genotype 4 (HEV-4) has been observed in Northern China, marking a switch from human-to-human transmission to zoonosis. However, similar data from cities in Southern China are lacking. This observational study of human hepatitis E cases in Shenzhen, a metropolitan city in the Pearl River Delta region, aimed to describe the clinical features and molecular epidemiology of hepatitis E in Southern China. Over a 55-month period, we identified 20 patients with acute hepatitis E. Most were middle-aged men, and 50% of patients had concomitant liver disease, of whom 70% were identified to have non-alcoholic fatty liver dise

SUBMITTER: Sridhar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5750461 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature