Prevalence of hepatitis A virus infection: the paradoxical example of isolated communities in the western Brazilian Amazon region

Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Manaus, Brazil¹  Queiroz, Manoel Bezerra de¹  Barbosa, Thiago Vitoriano¹  Borges, Fabiane Giovanella¹  Braga, Wornei Silva Miranda¹  Amazonas State University, Manaus, Brazil¹  Azevedo, Eliete Pereira de¹  Rodrigues, Ivo Seixas¹  Castilho, Márcia da Costa¹  Amazonas Federal University, Manaus, Brazil¹  Davis, Gustavo Henrique Nolasco Grimmer¹  Tropical Medicine Foundation of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil¹  Martinho, Ana Cristina de Souza¹  Barros Júnior, Gildo Maia¹  Santos, Simone Helena Derzi dos¹ 

关键词: Hepatitis A virus;    Epidemiology;    Prevalence;    Amazon region;    Brazil;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0037-86822009000300008

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical

【 摘 要 】

This study evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis A virus infection in the rural area of Lábrea, in the western Brazilian Amazon region. Communities and households were selected randomly. Serum samples were analyzed by means of the immunoenzymatic method for the presence of total antibodies against HAV. The study included 1,499 individuals. The prevalence of anti-HAV was 74.6% (95% CI 72.3-76.8). Univariate analysis showed associations with age (chi-square for linear trend = 496.003, p < 0.001), presence of outside toilet (p < 0.001), history of hepatitis (p < 0.001) and family history of hepatitis (p = 0.05). After adjusting for age, HAV infection also showed an association with the number of people in the family (p = 0.03). The overall prevalence rates were high, but not more than 60% of the children under the age of ten years had already been infected. Very high prevalence was detected only within older cohorts, thus paradoxically defining this as a region with intermediate endemicity, even under the conditions of poverty encountered.

【 授权许可】

Unknown