Kanzo
Online ISSN : 1881-3593
Print ISSN : 0451-4203
ISSN-L : 0451-4203
Original Article
Demographic, epidemiological, and virological characteristics of hepatitis E virus infections in Japan based on 254 human cases collected nationwide
Toshinori Abe, Tatsuya Aikawa, Yoshihiro Akahane, Masahiro Arai, Yasuhiro Asahina, Yoshinari Atarashi, Kazuaki Chayama, Hideharu Harada, Naoaki Hashimoto, Akiko Hori, Takafumi Ichida, Hiroki Ikeda, Akihisa Ishikawa, Takayoshi Ito, Jong-Hon Kang, Yoshiyasu Karino, Hideaki Kato, Masaru Kato, Mari Kawakami, Naoto Kitajima, Tsuneo Kitamura, Naohiko Masaki, Keiji Matsubayashi, Hiroyuki Matsuda, Atsushi Matsui, Kojiro Michitaka, Hiroshi Mihara, Katsuhiko Miyaji, Hiroshi Miyakawa, Hitoshi Mizuo, Satoshi Mochida, Mitsuhiko Moriyama, Shuhei Nishiguchi, Katsuo Okada, Hidetsugu Saito, Hiroshi Sakugawa, Minoru Shibata, Kazuyuki Suzuki, Kazuaki Takahashi, Gotaro Yamada, Kazuhide Yamamoto, Taro Yamanaka, Hiroaki Yamato, Koji Yano, Shunji Mishiro
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Keywords: hepatitis E, hepatitis E virus, epidemiology, Japan
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2006 Volume 47 Issue 8 Pages 384-391

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Abstract
To know the reality of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in Japan, quite obscure until a few years ago, we have collected a total of 254 human cases of HEV infection, and analyzed for demographic, epidemiological, and virological characteristics. As a result, we now know [i] HEV has penetrated nationwide from Hokkaido to Okinawa; [ii] hepatitis E is a disease of middle-aged people (approx. 50 years old in average) with a predominance of male over female (approx. 3.5 vs 1); [iii] HEV strains of genotype 3 and 4 are autochthonous in Japan, but the latter is present almost exclusively in Hokkaido; [iv] the older the age the severer the disease; [v] HEV genotype 4 is associated with more obvious and severer clinical manifestations than genotype 3; [vi] no seasonality in its incidence; and [vii] transmission routes remain obscure in most cases (approx. 60%), whereas about 30%, 8%, and 2% are ascribable to zoonotic food-borne transmission, imported infection, and via blood transfusion, respectively.
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© 2006 The Japan Society of Hepatology
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