Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is worldwide distributed and might cause acute or chronic hepatitis mainly in immunocompromised individuals. In previous studies we found a high prevalence of antibodies to HEV within blood donors in south Brazil and also within backyard-raised pigs. Here, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of anti-HEV antibody and HEV RNA within the general population from three major municipalities (Caxias do Sul, Passo Fundo and Santa Maria) in south Brazil. A total of 3000 blood samples were randomly obtained from clinical laboratories at each of the three municipality (n = 1000 each) to determine the presence of anti-HEV antibodies and HEV RNA. Overall, anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 574/1000 (57,4%) samples in Caxias do Sul, 655/1000 (65.5%) samples in Passo Fundo and 554/1000 (55.4%) samples in Santa Maria. The prevalence of HEV-positive samples increased steadily and significantly (P < 0,001) with age and was unusually higher within individual over 40 years. Despite of this, none of the pooled serum samples had detectable levels of HEV RNA. The high anti-HEV antibody prevalence suggests that the virus might be present on the environment and/or foodstuff and poses a permanent threat to immune-compromised individuals.

中文翻译：

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巴西南部戊型肝炎病毒抗体异常流行

戊型肝炎病毒 (HEV) 分布于世界各地，可能主要在免疫功能低下的个体中引起急性或慢性肝炎。在之前的研究中，我们发现巴西南部的献血者和后院饲养的猪体内 HEV 抗体的流行率很高。在这里，我们旨在调查巴西南部三个主要城市（Caxias do Sul、Passo Fundo 和 Santa Maria）一般人群中抗 HEV 抗体和 HEV RNA 的流行情况。从三个直辖市（n = 1000 个）以确定抗 HEV 抗体和 HEV RNA 的存在。总体而言，在 Caxias do Sul 的 574/1000 (57.4%) 个样本、Passo Fundo 的 655/1000 (65.5%) 个样本和 Santa Maria 的 554/1000 (55.4%) 个样本中检测到抗 HEV 抗体。HEV 阳性样本的患病率随着年龄的增长而稳步且显着地增加（P < 0,001），并且在 40 岁以上的个体中异常高。尽管如此，汇集的血清样本中没有一个具有可检测水平的 HEV RNA。高抗 HEV 抗体流行率表明该病毒可能存在于环境和/或食品中，并对免疫受损的个体构成永久性威胁。