Dynamics of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Antibodies and Development of a Multifactorial Model To Improve the Diagnosis of HEV Infection in Resource-Limited Settings.

ABSTRACT: Serological markers are important for the diagnosis of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. This study aims to compare the diagnostic performance of the anti-HEV IgM and the HEV antigen (Ag) assays and establish a multifactorial model to improve the diagnosis of current HEV infection when HEV RNA detection is not available. A total of 809 serum samples, including 325 anti-HEV IgM-positive and 484 anti-HEV IgM-negative samples, were tested for HEV RNA. The anti-HEV IgM assay had very high sensitivity (99.4%) but moderate accuracy (79.2%) and specificity (74.3%). By retrospective follow-up of 58 patients with sequential samples (n = 143) tested for anti-HEV antibodies, we found anti-HEV IgM remained positive for more than 10 months in some HEV-infected patients, when HEV RNA was already undete

SUBMITTER: Lu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8111123 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature