Hepatitis E virus infection in pregnant women, Argentina

TISSERA, GABRIELA; LARDIZABAL, MARÍA CECILIA; TORRES, SOFÍA BELÉN; FANTILLI, ANABELLA CLARA; MARTÍNEZ WASSAF, MARIBEL G.; VENEZUELA, FERNANDO; CAPRA, RAÚL; BALDERRAMO, DOMINGO C.; TRAVELLA, CLAUDIA; RÉ, VIVIANA E.; PISANO, MARÍA BELÉN

BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES

BIOMED CENTRAL LTD

Año: 2020 vol. 20

1471-2334

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an important cause of acute hepatitis worldwide. In pregnantwomen, HEV can cause more severe symptoms, with high rates of fatal hepatic failure in endemic countries.However, HEV prevalence and circulation among pregnant women from South America is almost unknown. Weaimed to investigate HEV infection in pregnant women for the first time in Argentina.Methods: IgG and IgM anti-HEV antibodies and RNA-HEV were investigated (by ELISA assays and RT-Nested-PCR,respectively) in 202 serum samples from pregnant women collected in the central region of Argentina between2015 and 2017. A control group of 155 non-pregnant women was included (year 2018).Results: The IgG anti-HEV positivity rate was 8.4% (17/202), higher than the 2.6% (4/155) obtained for the nonpregnantwomen control group, and showing association between pregnancy and HEV infection (p = 0.023, OR =3.5, CI95% = 1.1?10.5). Women younger than 25 years old presented higher levels of antibodies, and there were nodifferences in the prevalences between trimesters of pregnancy. Two samples were reactive for IgM anti-HEV,showing recent infections, although no symptoms were registered in these patients. All samples were negative forRNA-HEV amplification.Conclusions: HEV produces infections in pregnant women from Argentina, alerting health teams to consider it as apossible cause of liver disease.