Decline in Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Antibody Prevalence in Southeastern Germany, 1996 – 2011

Background: In the past decade, an increasing frequency of acute hepatitis E was noted in Germany. Most cases were unrelated to travel. Recently, a high prevalence (17%) of antibodies against hepatitis E was found in the adult German population. Although this alludes to an emerging infection, other reports indicated that the prevalence of anti-HEV might effectively have decreased over the past 50 years. To investigate the time trends of hepatitis E in southeastern Germany, we performed anti-HEV testing in sera taken from adults in 2011 and 1996. Methods: Sera were primarily from inhabitants of the Upper Palatina…