Prevalence of hepatitis A in the capitals of the States of NorthSoutheast and South regions of Brazil: decrease in prevalence and someconsequences

摘要

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection has been considered one of the leading causesof acute hepatitis. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalenceof HAV among children and adolescents in a population-based study in thecapitals of the States of the North, Southeast and South of Brazil and identifypredictive factors for the infection. A multi-stage sampling was used to selectsubjects aged between 5-9 and 10-19 years. Individual and household levels asidefrom the level of variables in the areas were collected. The outcome was thetotal IgG antibodies to HAV levels detected using a commercial Enzyme ImmunoAssay (EIA). The associations between HAV and the independent variables wereassessed using the odds ratio. A multilevel analysis was performed by GLLAMMusing the Stata software. The prevalence of HAV infection in the 5-9 and 10-19age groups was 28.7% and 67.5%, respectively for the North, 20.6% and 37.7%, forthe Southeast and 18.9% and 34.5% for the South Region. The prevalence of HAVincreased according to age in all sites. Variables related to education at theindividual level (North and South), family and area level (South and Southeast)and family income level (Southeast and South) were independently associated withHAV infection. This emphasizes the need for individualized strategies to preventthe infection.