Abstract
Dear Editor:
We read the article, “A Nationwide Survey of the Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Infections Among Blood Donors in Thailand,” with great interest (3). Jupattanasin et al. concluded that “A low HEV infection rate was associated with an Islamic population where there are low number of pigs and low swine consumption” (3). We would like to share ideas on the present report. First, it is questionable whether the data from this report represent a nationwide data. Thailand has five regions with >70 provinces, but Jupattanasin et al. selected to study <20 provinces from only four regions. In addition, blood donors might be an immigrant from one province to another province. The good example is the healthy worker who migrates to work in a workplace away from hometown. The conclusion on the relationship with local pork consumption behavior might not be correct. Indeed, Jupattanasin et al. mentioned that the low hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in southern region of Thailand was related to Islamic background. In fact, there are only some provinces in southern region of Thailand that have Muslim majority (only 4 from 14 provinces). The specific area of the southern region of Thailand that is populated by the Muslims is the southernmost part. The effect of background pork consumption on seroprevalence of hepatitis B was previously confirmed in this specific part, not all parts, of southern region of Thailand (2). In fact, in a recent report from Bangladesh, there is also a very high rate of infection among Muslim population (1). Despite pork is not consumed by the Muslims in Bangladesh, the high rate of infection can be observed (1). The conclusion from the present report should be that there is a wide range of seroprevalence rates observed in different provinces in Thailand and the association with the social geographical background should be further in-depth investigated.
Footnotes
Author Disclosure Statement
No competing financial interests exist.