Projektnummer

0069436

Zusammenfassung

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a small, positive-stranded RNA virus, which consists mainly of 4 genotypes pathogenic for humans belonging to the genus of Orthohepevirus A. It is the leading cause of acute virus-associated hepatitis in Germany and worldwide. Genotypes 3 and 4 are zoonotic infections with their main reservoir in swine resulting in high infection rates particularly in Germany of up to 420.000/year. Moreover, in addition to acute infections these genotypes can cause chronic infections in immunocompromised hosts contributing to high morbidity and mortality. Recently, anothe...