Hepatitis E has not been thought of as a disease of the West first world. It is found in the developing world and transmitted there via the fecal-oral route like Polio. Africa, Asia especially in China and India as well as the Middle East are where the virus is endemic.

It is thought not to be fatal but that is wrong. Why should we be informed about Hepatitis A and E? Though it is true the Western world has not seen the amount of cases we see in the developing world, we need to be aware of both Hepatitis E and C because we are allowing illegals & refugees to flow into the West without health screening. Many of these refugees and illegals are bound to be carrying both Hepatitis A and E. Europep has now begun to see cases of Hepatitis E as well as a large outbreak recently, of Hepatitis A in Spain.

Hepatitis E is often fatal in pregnant women and the immunosurpressed.

It is not likely that the flow of African and Middle Eastern Islamic refugees will stop any time soon, therefore our doctors and nurses in the West need to be aware of diseases nonendemic to the West.

For more information on Hepatitis E please check below. The information below was found at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hepatitis_E

Hepatitis E is a viral hepatitis (liver inflammation) caused by infection with a virus called hepatitis E virus. It is one of five known human hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E. HEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded, nonenveloped, RNA icosahedral virus HEV has a fecal-oral transmission route. (In the developing world the fecal - oral route is the most common form of transmission. ed PD)

Infection with this virus was first documented in 1955 during an outbreak in New Delhi, India. A preventive vaccine (HEV 239) is approved for use in China.

Although hepatitis E often causes an acute and self-limiting infection (the virus usually resolves itself and the individual recovers) with low mortality rates in the western world, it bears a high risk of developing chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised patients with substantial mortality rates. Organ transplant recipients who receive immunosuppressive medication to prevent rejection are thought to be the main population at risk for chronic hepatitis E. Furthermore, in healthy individuals during the duration of the infection, the disease severely impairs a person’s ability to work, care for family members, and perform other daily activities.

Hepatitis E occasionally develops into an acute, severe liver disease, and is fatal in about 2% of all cases. Clinically, it is comparable to hepatitis A, but in pregnant women, the disease is more often severe and is associated with a clinical syndrome called fulminant liver failure. Pregnant women, especially those in the third trimester, suffer an elevated mortality rate from the disease of around 20%.[8]

Hepatitis E Newly-Infected 28 million People In 2013

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hepatitis_E