All issues > Volume 42(2); 1999

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1999;42(2):180-185. Published online February 15, 1999.

A Seroepidemiologic Study on Hepatitis A in Seoul, Korea

Dong Woon DW Yang¹, Young Ah YA Lee¹, Jung Yeon JY Shim¹, Jin Young JY Park¹, Hye Lim HL Jung¹, Moon Soo MS Park¹, Dong Hyeuk DH Keum¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
: The prevalence of hepatitis A(HAV) in a certain community reflects that community’s living standard and hygienic condition. And the pattern of HAV infection differs over time and geography, with varying widely from country to country and even within the same city. Recently a shift in prevalence has been observed in cases from childhood to adulthood. We studied HAV antibody prevalence in the general and welfare population of Seoul.
Methods
: From March to July 1997, a total of 686 subjects were tested for HAV antibody, of which 586 samples were collected from patients in Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, and the remaining 100 samples from the inmates of a welfare facility.
Results
: The overall seropositive rate of HAV was 26.4%(181/686). In the hospital patient group, the seropositive rates were 72% in subjects aged below 6 months, 8.5% in 7-12 months, 0% in 1-4 years, 1.9% in 5-9 years, 0% in 10-14 years, 7.4% in 15-19 years, 64.3% in 20-29 years, and 100% in subjects aged over 30 years. The welfare-facility-inmate group showed significantly higher positive rates than the age-matched hospital patient group(P<0.05).
Conclusion
: As the socioeconomic condition in Korea has improved, the HAV seropositive rate in school-aged children has dramatically decreased in the last 15 years. But even in the same city, the seropositive rate of HAV differed according to the hygienic level. The seropositive rate of HAV in the pediatric group was very low, which suggests the increasing possibility of clinical HAV infection in adults in the near future.

Keywords :Hepatitis A, Epidemiology, Seroprevalence, Anti-HAV IgG