Duration of hepatitis E viremia in pregnancy.

Objective: To investigate the duration of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in pregnant and non-pregnant women with acute viral hepatitis (AVH) or fulminant hepatic failure (FHF).

Methods: A prospective study conducted with 20 pregnant women with AVH, 20 non-pregnant women with AVH, 10 pregnant women with FHF, and 9 non-pregnant women with FHF-all with HEV infection. The women were followed up on day 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 following recruitment for the presence of HEV-RNA.

Results: Of the 59 patients with HEV infection, only 2 (3.4%) revealed HEV viremia at day 30 and none of the patients was viremic at day 60 and day 90. The proportion of HEV viremia in pregnant women with AVH and FHF at day 15 was significantly higher than in non-pregnant women (88.3% vs 27.6%; P<0.001). Similarly, HEV viremia among patients with AVH was significantly higher in pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women (100% vs 55%; P<0.001).

Conclusion: HEV viremia may be prolonged in pregnancy.