Hepatitis E infection in Egyptian febrile hepatitis children

In this study 79 children (age range 3 - 16 years) were examined. All the patients had jaundice of less than 4 weeks duration and moderate to severe illness without evidence of surgical or toxic liver disease. The results showed that hepatitis E virus is a frequent cause of acute sporadic hepatitis in Egyptian children. Acute hepatitis E infection can be diagnosed, specifically by the detection of HEV-Ag in lymphocytes and serum of the patients. Anti-HEV IgG in patients with hepatitis E infection does not indicate always acute infection because it may be contracted from past infection with hepatitis E. High liver enzymes levels and hence severity of the disease was significantly related to HEV-Ag in lymphocytes and in serum and IgG anti-HEV antibody in serum.