Anti-hepatitis E virus antibody prevalence in French expatriate workers.
OBJECTIVE
The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis in developing countries and an emerging pathogen in Europe. HEV seroprevalence has rarely been assessed in cohorts of travelers, and previous studies have reported a very low rate of exposure. We assessed HEV seroprevalence in French expatriate workers.


METHODS
The prevalence of HEV IgG and IgM was assessed among 43 French expatriate workers using two commercial microplate enzyme immunoassays (Adaltis and Wantai). Additionally HEV IgG-positive sera were tested with an immunoblot assay (recomLine), while IgM-positive sera were tested with a rapid immunochromatographic assay (Assure).


RESULTS
The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG was 3.7 times higher in French expatriates than in comparable blood donors from the same area. A discrepancy was evidenced between the HEV IgG results obtained by the Wantai and Adaltis assays (48.8% vs. 30.2%).


CONCLUSIONS
Expatriation from France, including to areas not recognized as hyperendemic for HEV, may expose individuals to HEV infection. This issue warrants further study; in particular, serology should be compared before and after travel. The most sensitive Wantai serological assay should be used for epidemiological studies to obtain better insight into the epidemiology of HEV.
['Vernier|Mireille|M|', 'Rossi-Tamisier|Morgane|M|', 'Richet|Hervé|H|', 'Brouqui|Philippe|P|', 'Parola|Philippe|P|', 'Bouamri|Yanis|Y|', 'Colson|Philippe|P|', 'Gautret|Philippe|P|']
D000328:Adult D005260:Female D005602:France D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies D016751:Hepatitis E D016752:Hepatitis E virus D006801:Humans D007074:Immunoglobulin G D007075:Immunoglobulin M D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies D014171:Transients and Migrants D019562:Viral Load D055815:Young Adult
Expatriate Workers Hepatitis E virus Seroprevalence France Serological assay