title: Hepatitis A antibodies: prevalence in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Hepatitis caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV) occurs at a variable prevalence in different countries, and the exposure to HAV is as high as 100% in some areas. There appears to be a close association between the prevalence of anti-HAV and socioeconomic status and age. In this paper, we report the prevalence of antibody to HAV (anti-HAV) in five regions covering different parts of Saudi Arabia. The results of this study show that the overall prevalence of anti-HAV is 96% and 95.1% in the total male and female population respectively. In different age groups the prevalence varies from 78-100% with a concomitant increase with age. These results show that the rate of exposure to HAV is high in Saudi Arabia and predominant exposure occurs in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Medical Biochemistry Department, College of Medicine & King Khalid Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: el-Hazmi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001782:Blood Donors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006507:Hepatovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies