Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among male craft and manual workers in Qatar (2020–2021)
Nadin Younes,
Hadi M. Yassine,
Parveen Banu Nizamuddin,
Katerina Kourentzi,
Patrick Tang,
Houssein H. Ayoub,
Makiyeh Khalili,
Peter V. Coyle,
Dmitri Litvinov,
Richard C. Willson,
Laith J. Abu-Raddad,
Gheyath K. Nasrallah
Affiliations
Nadin Younes
Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar; Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Member of QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar
Hadi M. Yassine
Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar; Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Member of QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar; Corresponding author. Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar Women's Science building, C01, P.O. Box: 2713, Qatar.
Parveen Banu Nizamuddin
Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar
Katerina Kourentzi
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Patrick Tang
Division of Microbiology, Sidra Medicine, Doha, 26999, Qatar
Houssein H. Ayoub
Mathematics Program, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar
Makiyeh Khalili
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, 3050, Qatar
Peter V. Coyle
Department of Pediatrics, Women's Wellness and Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, 3050, Qatar
Dmitri Litvinov
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA; Center for Integrated Bio & Nano Systems, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Richard C. Willson
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA; Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Laith J. Abu-Raddad
Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar; World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Disease Epidemiology Analytics on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Cornell University, Doha, Qatar; Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
Gheyath K. Nasrallah
Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar; Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Member of QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, 2713, Qatar; Corresponding author. Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar Women's Science building, C01, P.O. Box: 2713, Qatar.
Background: The rapid growth of Qatar in the last two decades has attracted a large influx of immigrant craft and manual workers (CMWs) seeking employment in jobs associated with food handling, domestic service, and construction. Nearly 60 % of Qatar's population are expatriates CMWs, including many from hyperendemic countries for HEV. Thus, estimating the seroprevalence of HEV in Qatar and understanding its epidemiology is essential for public health efforts to control HEV transmission in Qatar. Methods: Blood samples from 2670 CMWs were collected between 2020 and 2021. All samples were tested for HEV-IgG antibodies. Positive HEV-IgG samples were tested for HEV-IgM antibodies, and those positives were also tested for viral antigens using an HEV-Ag ELISA kit and HEV-RNA by RT-PCR to confirm current HEV infections. Results: The seroprevalence of HEV-IgG was 27.3 % (729/2670; 95 % CI: 25.6–29.0). Of those HEV-IgG positive, 8.23 % (60/729; 95 % CI: 6.30–10.5) were HEV-IgM positive. Of the IgM-positive samples, 2 were HEV-RNA positive (3.39 %; 95 % CI: 0.40–11.7), and 1 was HEV-Ag positive (1.69 %; 95 % CI: 0.04–9.09). In addition, HEV-IgG seroprevalence was associated with age and nationality, with the highest seroprevalence in participants from Egypt (IgG 60.0 %; IgM 5.56 %), Pakistan (IgG 59.0 %; IgM 2.24 %), Nepal (IgG 29.3 %; IgM 2.70 %), Bangladesh (IgG 27.8 %; IgM 2.45 %), and India (IgG 23.9 %; IgM 2.43 %). Conclusion: In this study, we showed that the seroprevalence of HEV among CMWs was slightly higher than what was previously reported among the urban population in Qatar (2013–2016).
