Qualitative analysis of clinical and community perinatal providers' perceived barriers to equitable care for food insecurity.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of viral hepatitis worldwide. While most infections are asymptomatic and self-limiting, severe outcomes such as acute liver failure can occur, particularly in pregnant women and individuals with pre-existing liver disease (). HEV has also been associated with extrahepatic manifestations, including neurological and renal disorders (). In immunocompromised patients, HEV disease may progress to chronic infection, defined by viral persistence beyond three months () and may potentially lead to accelerated liver fibrosis (, ). Ribavirin monotherapy for 3 months is currently the recommended treatment for chronic HEV infection () due to its proven efficacy (). HEV belongs to the family. Most human cases are due to strains of the species with four main genotypes (). HEV1 and HEV2 are human-restricted, while HEV3 and HEV4 are zoonotic, with pigs and wild animals as reservoirs (). HEV is a quasi-enveloped virus: particles released into the blood and cell culture supernatant are membrane-associated, whereas particles in feces are naked (). HEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of approximately 7.2 kb, comprising three main open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes the nonstructural polyprotein essential for replication, including a methyltransferase, macrodomain, helicase, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, as well as a less characterized domain named the polyproline region (PPR). ORF2 encodes the capsid protein, and ORF3 encodes a multifunctional protein involved in viral egress ().