SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY OF HEPATITIS E VIRUS INFECTION IN TEHRAN PROVINCE: A POPULATION BASED STUDY

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the second prevalent causative agent of acute hepatitis in adults after hepatitis B. Transmission routes of this infection is fecal-oral. There are limited studies on epidemiology of this virus in Iranian general population. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis E infection in general population of some towns of Tehran province and Eastern and Northern section of Tehran city. In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2006 and 2007 a number of 501 subjects selected by random cluster sampling from Tehran province were studied. Demographic data (through a questionnaire) and blood samples were collected and anti-HEV antibodies were measured by ELISA method. Chi-square test, logistic regression, and T-test were used for statistical analysis. O f the total 493 subjects with mean age of 40.98± 17.10, 180 were men and the rest (313 subjects) were women. Of these numbers, 48 subjects (9.7%) were positive for anti-HEV antibody. There were no significant differences in HEV seropositivity and different sex or age groups. T he prevalence in Tehran province was high and this indicates the endemic state of this infection in the studied population. Results are similar to those in eastern section of Golestan province and are in contradiction with results from Isfehan Province.