The Investigation of Seroprevalence for Hepatitis E in Different Age Groups in istanbul

The aim of this study was to determine the rate of anti-HEV IgG in different age groups in Istanbul. Four hundred people were included in this study who had applied to Haydarpasa Numune Hospital Clinics due to reasons other than jaundice. Of these people, 239 were women and 161 were men. Anti-HEV IgG was found 15.8% in the whole group with micro-ELISA method. The study was performed in four different groups, each of which consisted of 100 subjects. The prevalences with respect to age groups were found 7% in the group of 6 to 15 years-old, 10% in that of 16 to 25 years-old, 30% in that of 26 to 35 years-old and 16% in that of 36 to 50 years-old. The prevalence in the group of 26 to 35 years-old was higher than the other groups statistically. Seropositivity was found 14.3% among those who had better economic levels and 17.3% who didn't; 12.3% among those who used bottled water, 18.2% who used spring water and 20.4% who used tap water. When the cases were evaluated with respect to the number of their siblings, seropositivity was found to be 21.4% among those who had fewer than 2 siblings, which was significantly high (p< 0.05). In conclusion, being a young adult, living in a crowded environment, being a member of a group of a relatively low economic level and using tap or spring water as drinking water increase the risk of HEV infection. HEV should be considered as the causative agent for both in acute hepatitis outbreaks and sporadic cases.