[ assessment of hepatitis B and C prevalence in street children of Tehran from Farvardin to Shahrivar 1386]

ABSTRACT

One of the most important problems for street children is the health issue. Many of these children are suffering from malnutrition, anemia, and respiratory, gastrointestinal and dermatologic disorders and also acquired infections such as hepatitis, AIDS, and tuberculosis. According to the emphasis for performing vaccination of high risk children, recognition of these groups has especial importance. In this descriptive study 203 street children were gathered from different places of Tehran and settled at a welfare center. These children were clinically examined by a pediatrician and requested to answer a questionnaire. Blood samples [3CC] were obtained from each of them in order to determine the existence of Hepatitis B Virus [HBV] and Hepatitis C Virus [HCV] infections by ELISA method. Among 203 street children studied in this research, 196 were boys and 7 were girls. Six cases [3%] were HBsAg positive, 54 cases were HBsAb positive [26.6%] and 16 cases were HBcAb positive [8%]. Seven cases [3.5%] were HCVAb positive. All of the positive cases were boys. According to these positive results for hepatitis B and C, additional laboratory examination for screening of acquired infectious disease such as Hepatitis seems to be necessary