THE ESTIMATION OF THE HEPATITIS E PROPORTION IN THE ETIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF ACUTE VIRAL HEPATITIS IN CERTAIN REGIONS OF KYRGYZSTAN

Abstract

Despite the fact that the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) belongs to the highly endemic regions of the world for hepatitis E, the true extent of the spread of this infection in the country remains poorly understood. It was estimated the prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among patients with acute viral hepatitis (AVH) from the regions of the Kyrgyz Republic with a high level of seroprevalence previously established by us. Blood sera samples of hepatitis patients who were admitted to hospitals of Kyrgyzstan in the period 2018-2019 were examined by the enzyme immunoassay method using the kits «DS-ELISA-Anti-HEV-IgG» and «DS-ELISA-ANTI-HEV-IgM» (RPC Diagnostic Systems, Russia). IgG and IgM antibodies to HEV were detected in 103 of 344 studied samples (29.9%). Most often, seropositive specimens were detected among people of age groups under 20 and over 40 years old. Hepatitis with the fecal-oral mode of transmission was dominated in the structure of AVH: the specific gravity of hepatitis E was 47.9%, hepatitis A - 35.32%. Markers of mixed infections with other hepatitis viruses have been detected in 40.4% IgM-positive individuals. Thus, high prevalence of serological markers of HEV infection in the territory of Kyrgyzstan during the interepidemic period had been shown. The necessity of including the determination of serological markers of hepatitis E into the algorithm for the comprehensive diagnosis of AVH in patients of all age groups with liver pathology had been confirmed.