SURVEYS OF HEPATITIS A VIRUS IMMUNITY AMONG CHILDREN AGED 10-15 YEARS IN AHWAZ CITY BY ELISA METHOD

Hepatitis A is a common disease in Ahwaz and it seems that most of children have immunity against this disease. At the present time, human gamma globulin is recommended for post-exposure prophylaxis. The aim of this study was to determine the immunity status of children against hepatitis A and need for post–exposure prophylaxis. For this purpose, during a period of 5 months, sera anti-HAV antibody levels were measuned in 800 (357 males and 443 females) students, aged 10-15 from four educational districts of Ahwaz city, using ELISA method. The results showed that 81.2% of children were seropositive and 18.8% were seronegative. The lowest rate of positive cases was in the forth district. The most positive cases were in low socio–economical class and the least positive cases were in high socio-economical class. Since more than 80% of cases were seropositive, therefore, if personal hygiene, specially hand washing, is practiced routinely, post-exposure prophylaxis may not be necessary and prophylactic gamma globulin injection is only advised for those cases who do not practice this habit routinely.