Serologic Prevalence of Hepatitis E in Khoramabad City, Iran, 2009

Hepatitis E is a kind of viral infectious disease that involves the liver and can vary from a simple and asymptomatic disease to a fulminant and lethal disease. Considering the importance of HEV prevalence and history of epidemics in neighborhood provinces, this study was performed to evaluate the seroprevalence of HEV in Khorrmabad city in 2009. This is a cross sectional research which was done in 2009. A total of 400 people who had referred to the health centers of Khorrmabad city were selected as the subjects of study using multiphase sampling method. After getting informed consents from all cases as well as 5 milliliters of blood from each case, the intended demographic data was collected by a questionnaire. Then, ELISA test was performed for evaluation of the samples. In this study, the result was positive in 31 cases that showed 7.8% seroprevalence of HEV in Khorramabad city. The mean age of all cases was 36 years; positive cases:49.7 years; negative cases: 34.8 years and highest prevalence was in the 40-59 years age group(61.2%). There was no significant relationship between sex, blood transfusion and HEV positive test. Considering the prevalence rate of 7.8%, Khorramabad city is endemic for HEV and probably, this prevalence is higher at the mean age of 49.7% years and in the 40-59 years age group. We suggest that hepatic patients should be evaluated for HEV routinely in Lorestan province paying special attention to pregnant women.