Investigation of Hepatitis E Seroprevalence in HIV Positive Patients by a Novel Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay Test.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is usually an acute self-limiting disease, which causes rapidly progressive cirrhosis and chronic infection in patients with hematological malignancies, patients requiring chemotherapy, and HIV-infected patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the positivity of hepatitis E IgM and IgG in HIV positive patients with the recently introduced Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) commercial kits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 126 patients who were followed up by the Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Clinic of Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital between October 2017 and December 2018 for HIV positivity. Serum samples of the patients were evaluated for anti-HEV IgG and IgM positivity with a novel commercially available kit using the ELFA method (bioMerieux, France). The study group consisted of 126 patients with HIV infection. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were studied primarily from plasma samples. Anti-HEV IgM positivity was also investigated in patients with anti-HEV IgG positivity. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 114 (90.5%) males and 12 (9.5%) females with a mean age of 38.11 ± 13.32 (min: 18, max: 80) years. Anti-HEV IgG was positive in 5 (4.0%) HIV-positive patients. One of the anti-HEV IgG positive patients was newly diagnosed with HIV and the other four patients were being followed up for HIV positivity. Anti-HEV IgM was negative in all patients. None of the patients with anti-HEV IgG positivity had anti-HCV and HBsAg positivity. CONCLUSIONS: In the study, anti-HEV IgG positivity was found to be 4% in HIV-positive individuals, and no HCV and HBV co-infection was detected in any patients with HIV and HEV coexistence. HEV infections do not emerge as a priority among HIV-infected people, but HEV should also be investigated in HIV-infected individuals with liver abnormalities of uncertain etiology.

Comparison of Methods Used for the Diagnosis of Epstein-Barr Virus Infections in Children.

The accurate diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections is important, as many other infectious agents or diseases can cause similar symptoms. In this study, sera of pediatric patients who were suspected to have an EBV infection, were sent to Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Microbiology, and investigated by IFA, ELISA, immunoblotting and Real-time PCR. The performances of these tests were compared with IFA. The rates of agreement between ELISA and IFA were found as 100% for seronegative, 100% for acute primary infection, 22.2% for late primary infection, 92.1% for past infection. The rates of agreement between immunoblotting and IFA were found as 80.8% for seronegative, 68.8% for acute primary infection, 55.6% for late primary infection, 86.6% for past infection. The sensitivity of immunoblotting for anti-VCA IgM was identical with ELISA, and higher for anti-VCA IgG, anti-EBNA IgG, anti-EA antibodies, while the specificity of immunoblotting for these antibodies were found to be lower. The sensitivity and specificity of Real-time PCR for detection of viremia in acute primary infection were found as 56.25% (9/16) and 97.89% (139/142), respectively. The diagnostic methods should be chosen by evaluating the demographic characteristics of patients and laboratory conditions together.