Hepatitis A Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors: A Community-based Cross-sectional Study in Shahrekord, Iran

Recently, the epidemiology of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection has been changing sue to lifestyle-related variations. To our knowledge, there are no published data about the seroepidemiology of this infection in Shahrekord, central Iran, by which decisions on the commissioning of a vaccination program could be made. This study aimed to assess the seroprevalence of HAV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody at the Shahrekord Center of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, southwest Iran.Patients and In this cross-sectional study, using the multistage cluster sampling method, a total of 501 serum samples from the same number of individuals over 15 years in both urban and rural areas of Shahrekord, during 2013 were tested for HAV IgG antibody using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test. Logistic regression was also used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). It was found that 455 out of 501 (90.8%) serum samples, including those of 211 (42.1%) men and 290 (57.9%) women, were positive for HAV IgG antibody. Education level, age, marital status, and ethnicity were associated with HAV seropositivity in the studied individuals (P < 0.05). The HAV seroprevalence of 90.8% in the studied region may be representative of a highly endemic region of HAV that does not require a vaccination program to be commissioned.