Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A in the Croatian Population

Background: hepatitis a virus (hav) has a worldwide distribution, although this distribution tends to be uneven among geographical regions and population groups. the prevalence of anti-hav antibodies in the general population varies widely among countries. in europe, the seroprevalence of hav is reported to range from 32% to 88%. objectives: the aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of hav among the general croatian population. materials and methods: during a 2-year period (2008–2009), a total of 791 serum samples were tested for the presence of anti-hav total (igm+igg) and anti-hav igm antibodies using an automated enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (mini vidas; biomérieux, marcy l’etoile, france). results: the overall anti-hav seroprevalence was 41.6%. the observed difference in the eroprevalence rates among male and female patients was not statistically significant (44% vs. 39.6%, p = 0.218). a marked increase in anti-hav seropositivity with age was observed (p < 0.001). the seroprevalence did not differ significantly between participants residing in rural regions (45.3%) and those residing in urban regions (40.6%, p = 0.292).conclusions: our results corroborate those of seroprevalence studies in other developed countries. more than half of the croatian population (59.4%) is susceptible to hav infection.older age is an important predictor for being anti-hav positive.