ABSTRACT
Background: As sanitary conditions of a population improve, hepatitis A virus infection occurs at higher ages,thus decreasing the prevalence of antibodies against the virus. In the eighties, the prevalence of antibodies among children was 97 percent and depended on the socioeconomic level. Aim: To assess the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus in school age children living in Valdivia. Subjects and methods: Two thousand three hundred thirty three school age children were studied. Total antibodies against hepatitis A virus were detected using an ELISA kit from Abbott. Children were stratified in age groups and school were classified as private, subsidized, municipal or foster homes. Results: Antibodies were positive in 65 percent of children (59 percent in children aged 6 to 8 years old, 66 percent in children aged 9 to 11 years and 69 percent in children aged 12 to 15 years. In private schools, the prevalence was 26 percent, in subsidized schools the figure was 54 percent, in municipal schools 73 percent and in foster homes 91 percent. Conclusions: The general prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus is higher in low socioeconomic level children. There is a global decrease in the prevalence of these antibodies in the last years
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Hepatitis Antibodies , Hepatovirus/immunology , Hepatitis A/immunology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Cross-Sectional Studies , Age Distribution , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Socioeconomic Factors , Urban Population/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
Little is known about hepatitis E virus (HEV) prevalence in South American countries. AntiHEV was studied in 1,773 subjects from 1,360 blood donors of 3 cities in Chile, 72 in health care workers, 241 inmates in state jails and in 100 Araucarian indians. Anti-HEV was detected in 109 out of 1,360 (8.0 percent) total donors (6.3 percent, 6.1 percent and 18.8 percent from the cities of Valdivia, Osorno and Puerto Montt respectively); 9 out of 72 (12.5 percent) health care workers; 18 out of 241 (7.5 percent) inmates and 17 out of 100 (17 percent) Araucarian indians. Prevalence of anti-HEV was not related to age and sex. Hepatitis E is an endemic infection in some population groups of Southern Chile, associated to environmental pollution, crowding and low socioeconomic level