ABSTRACT
Hepatitis viruses are endemic in Egypt. Many studies have been performed in order to study the pattern of acute viral hepatitis [AVH] in Egypt and all these studies were hospital-based. There is no available literature about the surveillance of AVH in Egypt. The aim of this study was to survey and identify the etiologies of AVH in a rural community in Upper Egypt. The study was performed in Sallam Village near Assiut City. The active surveillance of acute viral hepatitis was performed using house to house survey and frequent visits to rural health unit. All patients were asked using a previously designed questionnaire. General clinical, abdominal examination and abdominal ultrasonographic examination were performed. Liver function tests, different seromarkers and PCR for AVH were performed for all patients. The results showed that AVH was diagnosed in 105 cases. Acute hepatitis A [AHA] was the most frequent cause of AVH [34 cases], followed by AHE [29 cases] and AHB [9 cases]. Acute hepatitis C was diagnosed in only three cases [two of them mixed with AHE], the cause of AVH was unknown in 15.1% of cases. There was no significant difference regarding the clinical and laboratory findings among different etiologies of AVH. Patients with AHE had relatively mild clinical presentation. Nineteen cases had clinical and laboratory evidence of AVH; however they had positive anti-HCV at six months prior to inclusion, so they were diagnosed as chronic hepatitis C. In addition, six cases were excluded from the study and diagnosed as drug- and toxin-induced hepatitis. The ultrasonographic changes of the liver and spleen were nonspecific. The study concluded that the surveillance of AVH in the community is important for the early diagnosis of mild and non-icteric cases and the early detection of epidemics