Evidence for the presence of autochthonous (locally acquired) cases of acute hepatitis E virus infections in Italy since the 80s

Background: Autochthonous (locally acquired) cases of acute hepatitis E virus have been recently reported in several developed countries.
Aim: To evidence cases, if any, and characteristics of acute hepatitis E virus infections in North-East of Italy several years ago.
Methods: In 2014, stored sera of 165 nonA-nonB acute hepatitis referred to the hospital of Padua during the period 1978-1991 were tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies by EIA III and for anti-hepatitis E virus IgM by Wantai HEV IgM ELISA. Anti-hepatitis E virus IgM positive sera were tested by Real Star HEV RT-PCR kit (Altona Diagnostics, Hamburg, Germany).
Results: Ninety-six (58.1%) sera resulted anti-HCV positive, and thus classified as acute C hepatitis. None of these subjects was anti-HEV IgM positive. Out of the 69 anti-HCV negative cases, 4 (5.8%) resulted anti-HEV IgM positive (one case hepatitis E virus-RNA positive), with an increasing trend from 2.8% during the years 1978-1984 to 9.1% during the years 1985-1991. All cases occurred in Italian patients with no travel abroad history.
Conclusions: There is evidence for the presence of autochthonous cases of acute hepatitis E virus infections in Italy since 80s.