Prevalence of Antibody for Hepatitis A Virus among Hospital Workers

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an epidemiologically important virus with a worldwide distribution. It causes acute hepatitis in humans. HAV infection is often subclinical or asymptomatic in children; however, symptomatic acute infections become more common with age. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of anti-HAV among hospital workers in Jeonbuk province. 447 (127 males, 320 females) persons were included in the study from January to June, 2011. Anti-HAV (total and IgM) in the sample serum was measured by VIDAS Hepatitis A (bioMerieux, France), and IgM positive samples were tested in terms of their serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels by a HITACHI 7600-010 automatic analyzer (HITACHI, Japan). The overall prevalence of total anti-HAV was 45.9% (205/447), and rate for males (60.6%) was higher than that for females (40%). According to the age group, the prevalence rates of total anti-HAV were 20% (1/5) in those under 20 years old, 11.3% (18/160) in those 20-29 years, 49.7% (71/143) in those 30-39 years, 86.5% (83/96) in those 40-49 years, 92.9% (26/28) in those 50-59 years, and 40% (6/15) in those over 60 years old. The total prevalence of anti-HAV IgM was 0.8% (4/447), and rate for males (1.6%) was higher than that for females (0.6%). Through this study, we determined the prevalence of anti-HAV among hospital workers in Jeonbuk province. The prevalence of the HAV antibody overall was low in hospital workers under 40 years old and in those over 60 years old. Therefore, an improvement in sanitary conditions and hygiene and vaccinations against HAV in this population are recommended.