Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Apr 27, 2024; 16(4): 506-510
Published online Apr 27, 2024. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v16.i4.506
Subclinical hepatitis E virus genotype 1 infection: The concept of “dynamic human reservoir”
Ananta Shrestha, Suresh Basnet, Sudhamshu KC
Ananta Shrestha, Department of Hepatology, Alka Hospital, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Suresh Basnet, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States
Sudhamshu KC, Department of Hepatology, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Author contributions: Shrestha A developed the core concept, reviewed literature, drafted the manuscript; KC S contributed to improvising the concept, reviewed literature, drafted manuscript; Basnet S contributed by literature review, improvement and critical review of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sudhamshu KC, PhD, Professor, Department of Hepatology, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Mahabouddha, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal. sudhamshu.liver@gmail.com
Received: December 28, 2023
Peer-review started: December 28, 2023
First decision: February 6, 2024
Revised: February 22, 2024
Accepted: March 28, 2024
Article in press: March 28, 2024
Published online: April 27, 2024
Processing time: 117 Days and 23.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Epidemiology of hepatitis E virus (HEV) is yet to be known and unraveled. HEV genotype 1 outbreaks tend to reoccur in periodic fashion in certain endemic areas. The virus often disappears even during conducible seasons and living conditions in between these outbreaks. There are no known animal reservoirs for human HEV genotype 1. Occurrence of asymptomatic viremia and transmission during epidemic quiescence in endemic areas may show humans acting as transient reservoir keeping the virus viable in the community. We propose this phenomenon as “Dynamic Human Reservoir” and emphasize the need for further research and data on this area for better understanding of HEV epidemiology.