Host Responses in Kidney-transplant Recipients With Chronic Hepatitis E Virus Infection

Hepatitis E is a worldwide disease. It is the leading or second leading cause of acute hepatitis in adults in developing countries from sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia, where it is hyperendemic and principally water-borne. In industrialised western countries, hepatitis E was until recently considered as imported from hyperendemic geographical areas, but is currently an emerging autochthonous infectious disease. A growing body of data from Europe, America, Australia, and Asia strongly indicate that pigs represent a major Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) reservoir and might be a source of zoonotic transmission to humans through direct or indirect exposure. Hepatitis E typically causes self-limited acute infection. However, the overall death rate is 1-4%, and it can reach 20% in pregnant women and might be still higher in patients with underlying chronic liver disease. To date, no preventive or curative treatment of hepatitis E is available.