Seroprevalence of Hepatitis A in Pediatric Age Groups in Bingol Province

Objective: Hepatitis Infection with hepatitis A virus virus (HAV) infection is a common public health problem in our country and in the world. The prevalence of disease Prevalence of this disease, that which can be the a serious reason for morbidity and mortality reason, is closely related with socio-economic conditions and environmental factors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of hepatitis A in pediatric age groups in Bingol province. Methods: In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the results of 4211 pediatric patients who requested HAV IgG and HAV IgM tests for various reasons and were admitted to our hospital between January 2010 and June 2016. Chi-square test was used to determine the statistical differences between categorical variables. Results: The mean age of the patient ages in the this study was 8.9 +/- 5.8 years (min-max: 0-18 years). Of all patients, 44.5% of the patients were male and 55.5% were female. The total HAV Ig G seropositivity rate was found to be 58%. When The anti-HAV Ig G seropositivity rates were analyzed according to age groups, they were found to be 54.2% in patients aged below 2 years, 38.2% in 2-6 years, 49.6% in 7-10 years, and 78.2% in 11-18 years. The total HAV Ig M seropositivity rate was found to be 11.6%. When anti-HAV Ig M seropositivity rates were analyzed according to months, it was found to be higher in December (17.9%) and November (17.1%) and the least in May (4.6%) and June (5.2%). Conclusion: It has been determined that the frequency of acute hepatitis A cases increases in December and November and that the seropositivity of hepatitis A Ig G increases with age after 2 years. In cases under below 2 years of age, the seropositivity of HAV Ig G is high and the seropositivity that of HAV Ig M is low, which is thought to be related to with vaccination and maternal antibodies.