Hepatitis A and B virus infections in children in Kuwait.
In a 1-year prospective study of 1788 cases of acute viral hepatitis, 26 (1.5%) presented with evidence of simultaneous hepatitis A (HAV) and hepatitis B (HBV) virus infection. Twenty-three of 26 (88.5%) of these cases had serological evidence of a recent HAV infection in a chronic HBV carrier. The remaining 3 (11.5%) showed serological evidence of a recent concomitant HAV/HBV infection. Twenty-four of the 26 (92.3%) patients with simultaneous infection were children with a mean age of 4.6 years. Clinical and laboratory data indicated that the disease in patients with a recent concomitant HAV/HBV infection was not different from that in patients who had HAV infection superimposed on a chronic HBV carrier or that in age and sex matched patients presenting with an acute viral hepatitis A infection alone. Furthermore, the outcome of the disease was not affected by the HBeAg/anti-HBe status of the hepatitis B positive patient. All patients recovered completely and on follow-up none showed any signs of chronic liver disease. Simultaneous HAV/HBV infection, therefore, does not result in a more severe disease.
D000293:Adolescent; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies