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J Med Virol 1991 Aug;34(4):232-236
Outbreak of acute Hepatitis E virus infection among military
personnel in northern Ethiopia.
Tsega E, Krawczynski K, Hansson BG, Nordenfelt E, Negusse Y, Alemu W, Bahru
Y
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University,
Ethiopia.
An outbreak of acute Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection occurred from October
1988 to March 1989 in military camps in northern Ethiopia. The epidemic was
waterborne and entirely confined to military men, of whom 423 hospitalized,
icteric patients were studied. The clinical course was mild and short, without
any fulminant hepatitis or death. All sera tested for anti-HAV-IgM were negative
and among 54 (13%) patients who were positive for HBsAg, 7 (2%) were positive
for anti-HBc IgM. On the other hand, 28 of 30 (93%) patients had antibodies
against Hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) in contrast to 1 of 29 (3%) asymptomatic
controls (P less than .01). The need for an easily available, inexpensive serologic
test for HEV infection, protection of water supplies from fecal contamination,
adequate chlorination and/or boiling of drinking water, and health education
about personal and environmental hygiene, especially in communities at high
risk, is emphasized.
PMID: 1940876, UI: 92044472
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