Risk factors and prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus (HAV) in children from day-care centers, in Goiania, Brazil

Abstract

A seroepidemiologic survey about hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection was carried out in a group comprising 310 children, ranging in age from 3 months to 9 years, from day-care centers, in Goiania, a middle sized city in the central region of Brazil. The biomarkers employed in the investigation of previous infection include total IgG and IgM anti-HAV antibodies, and for the detection of more recent infection, IgM anti-HAV antibodies were analyzed. The study was performed in 1991 and 1992. According to the results, 69.7% of the children presented total IgG/IgM anti-HAV antibodies, with 60% of the group in the age range of 1 to 3 years. Among 10 day-care centers analyzed, the prevalence of the biomarker IgM anti-HAV was 3.2%, with an uniform distribution of the cases in the group of children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the sociodemographic factors that could influence the results. It was verified that the risk for the infection increased with the length of the attendance in the day-care centers, i.e., the risk for children with attendance of one year or more was 4.7 times higher, when compared with children with one month attendance (CI 95% 2.3-9.9). According to the results, hepatitis A is an endemic infection in day-care centers in the study area. The length of attendance in the day-care settings was demonstrated to be a risk factor for the HAV infection. Such findings suggest that if hepatitis A vaccination becomes available as a routine policy in our region, the target group should be children under one year. Moreover, those children should receive the vaccine before they start to attend the day-care centers.

Prevalence of anti-hepatits A antibodies in children of different socioeconomic conditions in Vila Velha, ES

“…The city has 346,878 inhabitants 17 , living in the urban periphery (low our low-middle socioeconomic status) and in the downtown, near the beach (high socioeconomic status). 32 Rio de Janeiro, RJ NA 97 Oliveira et al 21 Rio de Janeiro, RJ NA 54.3 Queiroz et al 25 Goiânia, GO 80 92.9 Queiroz et al 26 Goiânia, GO 69.7 NA Ferreira et a l8 Porto Alegre, RS 7*/53** 17*/71** Pinho et al 24 Campinas, SP NA 19.6*/95** Vitral et al 31 Rio de Janeiro, RJ 34% 66 Focaccia et al 10 São Paulo, SP 28% 56 Struchiner et al 28 Rio de Janeiro, RJ 12*/36.6** NA Clemens et al 6 Manaus 2 3 Duque de Caxias, RJ 60.3 89.4 * high socioeconomic class; ** low socioeconomic; # urban population; ## rural population; NA not available.…”

Uso dos equipamentos de proteção individual entre trabalhadores das centrais de material e esterilização

“…A pesquisa epidemiológica foi escolhida porque, ao responder às questões relacionadas aos indivíduos, aos lugares e ao período em que ocorre o fenômeno do estudo, caracteriza-se a população, permitindo o seu relacionamento com o espaço e o tempo (7) . A contribuição da epidemiologia nas pesquisas científicas destina-se, principalmente, a informar a condição de saúde da população em determinados eventos, investigar os fatores que influenciam esta situação de saúde e avaliar o impacto de ações propostas para alterar a situação encontrada (8) .…”

Hepatite A no Município do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: padrão epidemiológico e associação das variáveis sócio-ambientais. Vinculando dados do SINAN aos do Censo Demográfico

“…Com as melhorias das condições sanitárias e higiênicas, observa-se uma mudança do padrão de alta endemicidade para o de média endemicidade, principalmente nos grandes centros urbanos (Tabela 1), uma vez que modo de transmissão do HAV se dá por via fecal-oral 11 , através de água ou alimentos contaminados 12,13 . O padrão de média endemicidade implica a diminuição de infecções subclínicas em crianças e o aumento de infecções mais graves em adolescentes e adultos 14 .…”