[Hepatitis E--overview of the latest knowledge]. / Hepatitida E--prehled soucasných poznatku.

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis E (HE) is a ubiquitous infection, occurring both in developing and in developed countries. It is caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), a small, non-enveloped RNA virus. The reported incidence in the Czech Republic in 2013 was 2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and the number of HE cases has been growing over the past years. Besides the long known fecal-oral transmission, zoonotic and blood product transmission of HEV has recently been observed in industrialized countries. Most infections are asymptomatic. Symptomatic infection may present as acute hepatitis with nonspecific flu-like symptoms and liver enzymes elevation. In immunocompromised patients, HEV can lead to chronic hepatitis E and can even cause acute liver failure in pregnant women. Several extrahepatic manifestations have also been reported. Antiviral therapy has been successfully used in chronic hepatitis E. The first vaccine available for clinical use is licensed in China so far.