The Seroprevalenceof Hepatitis A in Tehran Population in 2016 Download PDF

Introduction:Viral hepatitis is one of the most important health problems in the world. Although the infection with hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a disease that is limited and improved after a while, but it is one of the major causes of outbreaks and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of Hepatitis A in Tehran population. Materials &Methods:This was a cross-sectional study on theserum samples from patients referred tothree hospitals (Mofid,Loqmanand Imam-Hossein) and one private center (samples for subjects over 30 years of age) in Tehran in 2016. Anti-hepatitis A antibody in serum samples was assessed by ELISA with a special kit according to the manufacturer's instructionsand the results were compared based on the subgroups of baseline characteristics. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS-18 using chi-square test and logistic regression. Results:Of 831 people, 42.2% were females and 57.8% were males. The mean age was 15.9 ± 13.0 years. Anti-hepatitis A antibody was positive in 319 patients (38.0%) and negative in 512 patients (61.0%). There was not any difference between sex groups (P=0.487), but seropositivitywas higher in patients older than 30 years and lower in patients below 5 years old (P<0.001). The difference between three independent variables of age group, health status and socioeconomic status was statistically significant (P< 0.001). Conclusions:The results of this study showed that a higher prevalence of HAV seropositivity was seen in older people with lower socioeconomic and health status.