Significance of hepatitis E virus infection in HIV-infected patients: a challenging issue

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a small, single-stranded, non-enveloped RNA virus and belongs to the genus Hepevirus in the Hepeviridae family. Currently, the HEV infection is the most frequent cause of acute hepatitis in the world. In recent years, some studies have been demonstrated that immunosuppressed cases, such organ transplant recipients, cases with HIV infection and patients with hematological malignancies are at risk of HEV infection. But it is not clear whether HEV infection is a major concern in HIV infected patients or not? The answer has considerable significance, because HIV and HEV infection are now both highly endemic in many parts of the world. The purpose of this review is to provide data on the prevalence of HEV infection in HIV infected patients for determination of the significance of HEV/HIV co-infection.