JIAN-TE LEEPEI-LAN SHAOLUAN-YIN CHANGXia N.-S.PEI-JER CHENCHUN-YI LULI-MIN HUANG2020-12-082020-12-0820131932-6203https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84983726601&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0067180&partnerID=40&md5=7a71bf92bd4fdc0f9a8df00ed0778861https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/524981Objectives:Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging pathogen. We evaluated the seroprevalence of HEV infection among swine farmers and the general population in Taiwan, a nonendemic country.Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional seroepidemiologic study in rural Taiwan in 2012 and 2013. The study included swine farmers, health examination attendees, pregnant women, and students. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM against HEV. Pertinent information was collected using a questionnaire.Results:In total, 660 participants were enrolled in the study, including 156 swine farmers, 314 health examination attendees, 100 pregnant women, and 90 students. IgG anti-HEV was detected in 29.5% of swine farmers, 11.5% of health examination attendees, 2% of pregnant women, and 1.1% of students. Two subjects were positive for IgM anti-HEV. Logistic regression analysis revealed that swine farmers had an approximately 3.5-fold increased risk (odds ratio [OR], 3.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91-6.27; p<0.0001) for being seropositive for IgG anti-HEV as compared to the general population. Age was positively associated with seropositive rate (OR, 1.07 per year; 95% CI, 1.05-1.09; p<0.0001).Conclusion:HEV infection is prevalent in Taiwan. The seroprevalence of HEV infection is high in swine farmers and in the elderly population. ? 2013 Lee et al.[SDGs]SDG3hepatitis E antibody; immunoglobulin G; immunoglobulin M; immunoglobulin G; adolescent; adult; age; aged; agricultural worker; antibody detection; article; child; controlled study; cross-sectional study; enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; female; hepatitis E; Hepatitis E virus; human; infection risk; major clinical study; male; medical examination; pregnant woman; questionnaire; risk assessment; rural population; school child; seroprevalence; student; Taiwan; animal; hepatitis E; immunology; physiology; pig; seroepidemiology; statistics and numerical data; virology; Hepatitis E virus; Suidae; Adult; Animals; Farmers; Female; Hepatitis E; Hepatitis E virus; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Male; Rural Population; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Swine; Taiwanjournal article10.1371/journal.pone.0067180238406202-s2.0-84983726601