Global Projects

Summary

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the leading global cause of acute viral hepatitis; particularly in South Asia where seasonal floods contaminate drinking water supplies leading to frequent hepatitis E (HE) epidemics. Whereas case-fatality rates in the general population can vary from 0.1-3.0%, elevated mortality (10-40%) in pregnant women infected with HEV genotype 1 has been observed in South Asia. Current methods to confirm infection rely on enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for detection of IgM or IgG antibodies to HEV (anti-HEV) in serum or PCR of HEV RNA in serum or stool. Collection of blood and stool is invasive and suffers practical constraints in children under 5 and pregnant women in resource-limited settings which may impede the ability to make frequent follow-up measurements in epidemiologic studies. This research will serve three purposes. First, to optimize and validate an HEV salivary EIA by evaluating the sensitivity, specificity, and reliability of HEV EIAs in de-identified paired saliva and finger-stick blood samples from patients at Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, an area where HEV is endemic. Second, compare a saliva self-collection protocol with saliva collected by trained staff. And third, to advance efforts to integrate the optimized HEV salivary EIA into ongoing and future epidemiologic studies which would refine understanding of the time windows of immunoconversion and progression of infectious vs subclinical HE symptoms.