ABSTRACT
Taiwan was a hyperendemic area for hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection before the late 1980s. The seroprevalence of HAV infection was higher than 90% with most HAV infection occurring during childhood. This study was to estimate the seroprevalence of HAV infection among preschool children in central Taiwan. A community-based survey was carried out in 54 kindergartens in 10 urban areas, 10 rural areas and 2 aboriginal areas randomly selected through stratified sampling. Serum samples of 2,549 healthy preschool children and 104 teachers in study kindergartens were screened for the HAV antibodies (anti-HAV) by means of a commercially available microparticle enzyme immunoassay (AxSYM HAVAB). Among aboriginal kindergarten children, more than 96% of them were anti-HAV seropositive due to a mass HAV vaccination program. In urban and rural areas, kindergarten children had a very low prevalence of anti-HAV (0.4%) in contrast to a high seroprevalence in their teachers (78%). There was no gender difference in seroprevalence of anti-HAV, while the anti-HAV seroprevalence was significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Crowdedness of living in urban areas might facilitate the person-to-person transmission of infectious agents.
Subject(s)
Adult , Child, Preschool , Faculty , Female , Hepatitis A/epidemiology , Hepatitis A Antibodies , Hepatitis Antibodies/blood , Hepatovirus/immunology , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Logistic Models , Male , Rural Health , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Taiwan/epidemiology , Urban HealthABSTRACT
Este trabalho mostra as vantagens de se determinar simultaneamente os metabólitos VMA, 5HIAA, HVA urinários. A quantificação destes metabólitos são muito importantes nos diagnósticos e tratamento de tumores que se originam na crista neural (VMA, HVA), e diagnóstico da síndrome e tumor carcinóide (5HIAA). A maioria das técnicas utilizadas, limitam-se a medir somente um ou dois setes metabólitos por análise, sendo que a ESA atualmente desenvolveu um procedimento direto, onde se obtém uma quantificação simultânea dos três metabólitos (VMA, 5HIAA, HVA) urinários usando o Sistema Coulochem Electrode Array CEAS