Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease from East Azerbaijan, Iran

Superinfection with hev in patients with chronic liver disease (cld) can cause severe hepaticdecompensation leading to increased morbidity and mortality. this study aimed to determine seroprevalence of hevinfection among cld patients compared to blood donors from azerbaijan, north-west of iran.methods: cld patients and a group of age matched blood donors with normal liver function tests were evaluated for thepresence of anti-hev igg antibody in their sera for evidence of hepatitis e. the risk factors were estimated.results: the mean age of cld patients was 48 years (range: 10-87). 27.5% of patients were hev igg-positive. amongthe controls 19.7% were positive for anti-hev igg. by multivariate analysis, there was no association between positiveanti-hev igg and etiology of chronic liver disease, gender, literacy, accommodation, and number of family members inpatients or controls. mean age of patients infected with hev in both groups was significantly more than theseronegative ones.conclusions: we found high seroprevalence of hev-antibody among blood donors and cld patients in our study, so werecommend more attention to hygiene of food and water. in addition, such patients should be informed about thepotential risks and simple ways to prevent the disease in their regular life and travels. this issue must be concerned incases of acute on chronic hepatitis in cld patients.