Hepatitis E virus infection and waste pickers: A case-control seroprevalence study.
Whether waste pickers are a risk group for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is largely unknown. This study aimed to determine the association between HEV exposure and the occupation of waste pickers and the work characteristics of waste pickers. An age-and gender-matched case-control seroprevalence study of 86 waste pickers and 86 control subjects of the general population was performed. We determined anti-HEV IgG antibodies in sera of cases and controls using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunoassay. The McNemar's test was used to assess the association between HEV seropositivity and the occupation of waste picker. The association between HEV seropositivity and work characteristics of waste pickers was assessed by bivariate and logistic regression analyses. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected in 14 (16.3%) of the 86 waste pickers and in 8 (9.3%) of the 86 control subjects (McNemar's pair test: odds ratio (OR) = 13.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-230.77; p = .02). Bivariate analysis showed that HEV exposure was associated with an ill status (p = .01) and reflexes impairment (p = .009). Logistic regression analysis showed that HEV seropositivity was associated with increasing age (OR = 6.52; 95% CI: 1.95-21.78; p = .002) and raising pigs (OR = 12.01; 95% CI: 1.48-97.26; p = .02). This is the first age- and gender-matched case-control study on the association between HEV infection and the occupation of waste picker. Waste pickers represent a risk group for HEV infection. Factors associated with HEV seropositivity found in this study may help in the design of optimal planning to avoid HEV infection.
['Alvarado-Esquivel|Cosme|C|0000-0002-0367-6052', 'Gutierrez-Martinez|Verónica Dayali|VD|', 'Ramírez-Valles|Eda Guadalupe|EG|', 'Sifuentes-Alvarez|Antonio|A|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D016022:Case-Control Studies D005260:Female D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies D016751:Hepatitis E D016752:Hepatitis E virus D006801:Humans D007074:Immunoglobulin G D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009784:Occupational Diseases D016017:Odds Ratio D059027:Recycling D012037:Refuse Disposal D012307:Risk Factors D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies D000078329:Workforce D055815:Young Adult
Hepatitis E virus waste pickers case-control study Mexico epidemiology