epidemiological study on hepatitis A cases admitted to Alexandria Fever Hospital

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted on 160 clinically diagnosed cases of hepatitis A at the Fever Hospital in Alexandria. The present findings revealed that 25% of cases of hepatitis A had their residence in El Montazah district which is a newly inhabited area of Alexandria which probably reflect the ease of communicability of hepatitis A in this area. Three results point to the possibility of clinical misdiagnosis of the type of hepatitis I. The mean age of cases was older than expected for hepatitis A [mean=24.63 +/- 14.36 years] 2. The onset was gradual in 22.5% of cases in contrast to the sudden onset described in the identification of hepatitis A[3]. Fever was reported by only 43.75% of patients. This study concluded that further study is needed in El Montazah area to preclude the causes of clustering of cases from this area. It also recommends serological differentiation of the type of viral hepatitis at fever hospital in order to guard against the possibility of chronic carriage of hepatitis B to pass undiagnosed