Anti-hepatitis A seroprevalence among chronic viral hepatitis patients in Kelantan, Malaysia

作者：Ahmad Fazlina; Hamzah Nor Aizal Che^*; Mustaffa Nazri; Gan Siew Hua

来源：World Journal of Gastroenterology, 2011, 17(36): 4130-4134.

DOI：10.3748/wjg.v17.i36.4130

• Hepatitis A seroprevalence
• Chronic viral hepatitis
• Malaysia
• Hepatitis A vaccination

AIM: To determine the seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibodies in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and to justify the need for hepatitis A vaccination.
METHODS: Patients (n = 119) were enrolled between July and September 2009. The diagnosis of CLD was based on the presence of viral markers for more than 6 mo. The diagnosis of liver cirrhosis was based on clinical, biochemical and radiological profiles. Patient serum was tested for anti-HAV IgG.
RESULTS: The overall anti-HAV seroprevalence was 88.2%. The aetiology of CLD was hepatitis B in 96 patients (80.7%) and hepatitis C in 23 patients (19.3%). Mean age was 44.4 +/- 14 years. Patients were grouped according to age as follows: 24 (20.2%) patients in the 21-30 years age group, 22 (18.5%) in the 31-40 years age group, 31(26.1%) in the 41-50 years age group, 23 (19.3%) in the 51-60 years age group and 19 (16.0%) patients aged greater than 60 years, with reported seroprevalences of 66.7%, 95.5%, 93.5%, 91.3% and 94.7%, respectively. There was a marked increase of seroprevalence in subjects older than 30 years (P = 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that patients aged greater than 30 years of age were likely to have natural immunity to hepatitis A. Therefore, hepatitis A vaccination may not be routinely required in this age group.

• 出版日期2011-9-28