P- 50 SEROPREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS E VIRUS IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS FROM ROSARIO, SANTA FE

Abstract

Introduction and Objectives: Although HEV infection is asymptomatic or self-limiting in most individuals, in immunocompromised patients, such as those infected with HIV, viral replication can persist for more than three months leading to chronic infection with progression to cirrhosis. Argentina is considered a country with low endemicity for HEV; however, seroprevalence data in HIV-infected populations are scarce and, to date, there are very few reports that provide accurate information on the impact of HEV infection in these immunosuppressed patients in our region. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HEV infection in HIV-positive individuals from Rosario, Santa Fe. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 97 HIV-positive individuals (19-74 years old; male=64) from Rosario. A blood serum sample was obtained from each patient after written informed consent. IgG and IgM a-HEV were analyzed by ELISA and HEV RNA by the RT-qPCR method previously optimized in our laboratory. As a control group, 154 blood donors (18-62 years old; male=90) were studied. Results: The results indicate a seroprevalence of IgG a-HEV of 5.2% (5/97) in HIV individuals compared to 3.2% obtained in the control population (p>0.05). These five positive samples corresponded to male individuals and all were negative for IgM a-HEV. HEV RNA was not detected in any of the 97 samples tested, ruling out acute HEV infection Conclusions: The results indicate a higher prevalence of IgG a-HEV in the HIV-positive population compared to the control group. The absence of HEV RNA in all the samples analyzed allows discarding active infections that can course with negative serology in this particular group of immunosuppressed individuals. This work provides updated data on the seroprevalence of IgG a-HEV in populations at risk, such as HIV-positive patients from our region.