Seroprevalence of hepatitis E in Nahavand, Islamic Republic of Iran: a population-based study

ABSTRACT

A 2-month community-based survey in February/March of 2003 was carried out to study the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus [HEV] infection in Nahavand, Islamic Republic of Iran. From each of 6 urban regions of Nahavand, 304 inhabitants >/= 6 years were recruited through systematic random sampling [total 1824]. Participants were tested for anti-HEV IgG using ELISA. The overall seroprevalence of HEV was 9.3% [95% CI 8.2%-10.9%]. Based on multivariate adjustment, only sex [OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.13-2.28] and age [OR = 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.04] emerged as significant risk factors. This intermediate prevalence urges further investigations on HEV infection in the Islamic Republic of Iran