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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2016; 22(31): 7030-7045
Published online Aug 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i31.7030
Hepatitis E: Discovery, global impact, control and cure
Mohammad S Khuroo, Mehnaaz S Khuroo, Naira S Khuroo
Mohammad S Khuroo, Naira S Khuroo, Digestive Diseases Centre, Dr. Khuroo’s medical Clinic, Srinagar, Kashmir 190010, India
Mohammad S Khuroo, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Kashmir 190010, India
Mehnaaz S Khuroo, Department of Pathology, Govt. Medical College, Srinagar, Kashmir 190001, India
Author contributions: All three authors contributed equally; Khuroo Mehnaaz S and Khuroo NS conducted the literature search; Khuroo Mohammad S wrote the paper; all authors read the paper and made necessary corrections.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mohammad S Khuroo, Director, Digestive Diseases Centre, Dr. Khuroo’s medical Clinic, Sector 1, SK Colony, Qamarwari, Srinagar, Kashmir 190010, India. khuroo@yahoo.com
Telephone: +91-194-2492398 Fax: +91-194-2491190
Received: March 26, 2016
Peer-review started: March 26, 2016
First decision: May 12, 2016
Revised: June 10, 2016
Accepted: July 6, 2016
Article in press: July 6, 2016
Published online: August 21, 2016
Processing time: 142 Days and 4.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Discovery of hepatitis E came to lime light when 1978-Kashmir epidemic of hepatitis was investigated. Hepatitis E is being recognized as a clinical entity of reemerging importance. Hepatitis E virus has marked heterogeneity and infects many animals like bats, camel, chicken, deer, boar, mongoose, pigs, rats, rabbit and cutthroat trout. Originally reported as a major health problem in poor-resource countries, hepatitis E is now recognized as an important clinical problem in the developed world. Zoonotic foodborne transmission of hepatitis E virus infections has relevance in solid organ transplant population. Major advances have been made in managing chronic hepatitis E. Hepatitis E causes a number of extrahepatic diseases, including a wide spectrum of neurological syndromes. Hepatitis E vaccine -239, marketed in China, has shown high efficacy with sustained protection for over four years.