Hepatitis E Prevalence in Vulnerable Populations in Goiania, Central Brazil

A transversal study was conducted among 472 vulnerable individuals (recyclable waste pickers, immigrants and refugees, homeless individuals, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transexual individuals) in Goiania City, the capital of the State of Goias, Brazil, to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. A total of 459 (97.2%) serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG and IgM antibodies using fully automated chemiluminescence immunoassays (Liaison (R) Murex Anti-HEV IgG and IgM assays, DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy). Positive samples were tested for the presence of HEV RNA by a real-time polymerase chain reaction. A seroprevalence of 0.87% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.34-2.22) was found for anti-HEV IgG. Furthermore, anti-HEV IgM was detected in only one individual (0.22%; 95% CI: 0.04-1.22), who was also negative for HEV RNA. These findings revealed that HEV infection is infrequent in vulnerable individuals in Central Brazil, with low seroprevalence of past and recent HEV infections.