Hepatitis E Virus Infection During Pregnancy: The Overlooked Cause of Maternal and Fetal Mortality

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one the leading causes of maternal and fetal mortality. Nevertheless, in some geographical locations, especially Egypt, despite having high frequency of HEV seropositivity, HEV infection follows an asymptomatic or mild course during pregnancy. These anomalous observations have distracted attention from the importance of HEV infection in pregnant women.
Methods: While tragic cases of HEV-infected pregnant women cannot be neglected any longer.
Conclusion: These circumstances create a strong demand for the increasing awareness of HEV infection through training programs, appropriate management of HEV infection among pregnant women, routine screening of pregnant women for timely diagnosis of HEV infection, proper treatment of HEVinfected patients, optimal preventive measures, and development of a prophylactic vaccine against HEV infection.