seroprevalence of hepatitis a virus among healthy individuals in birjand, eastern region of iran

Background: hepatitis a virus (hav) is an epidemiological important infectious agent in the world. hav incidence can be con- trolled by cognizance of the geographic distribution pattern. objectives: the aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of hav infection in birjand. methods: a total of 496 healthy individuals (mean age: 39.34 ± 15.47, range: 15 - 70 years, m/f ratio: 0.68) were randomly enrolled in this cross-sectional study. demographic data were collected and the presence of anti-hav total antibody was determined by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). results: overall, the prevalence of positive serum anti-hav antibody was 92.78%, however, the rate for 15 - 24 years subjects was 69%. there was a significant positive correlation between presence of anti-hav antibody with age (p < 0.001), marriage (p < 0.001), education (p = 0.001) and anti-hbc antibodies (p = 0.007). conclusions: the result of this study showed a high prevalence of hav antibody in most people, except for young adults, which can be an alarming sign for a higher rate of complicated hav infections in the future and needs a proper strategy.