Current prevalence of hepatitis B, A and C in a healthy Spanish population. A seroepidemiological study.
A seroepidemiological study was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of markers of viral hepatitis infection in employees of five health-care companies and their cohabiting family members. Each participating family unit was required to fill out a questionnaire, in which, among other data, the employee was requested to indicate his or her job category. Markers of hepatitis B infection (anti-HBs, anti-HBc or HBsAg) were observed in 11.7% (58/497) of all subjects. When employees and family members were analysed according to the employee's job category, significant differences were found between "staff" (3%) and "administrative personnel" (13.3%; p less than 0.01) or "factory workers" (16.9%; p less than 0.01). Of 489 individuals tested for the presence of anti-HAV and anti-HCV, 59.1% and 0.6% respectively, were positive. There was a correlation between the prevalence of anti-HAV and age; a large proportion of the subjects under the age of 30 years had no evidence of prior HAV infection.
Dal-Ré
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Medical Dept., SmithKline & French, Madrid, Spain.
Aguilar
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Coronel
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006507:Hepatovirus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies