Epidemiology of hepatitis A and hepatitis E infection and their determinants in adult Chinese community in Hong Kong.
Current epidemiology of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Hong Kong was evaluated in 936 adult Chinese subjects recruited through a telephone interview in 2001. Some 15% of the subjects had IgG antibodies to both HAV and HEV while 665 (71.0%) and 176 (18.8%) had anti-HAV and anti-HEV, respectively. Age was the most significant independent factor. Six hundred thirty-eight (79.8%) and 165 (20.7%) subjects aged > or =30 had anti-HAV and anti-HEV, respectively, as compared with 27 (19.7%) and 11 (8.0%) in people aged <30. The corresponding adjusted Odds ratio (OR) was 14.94 (95% CI: 9.13-24.44; P<0.001) for anti-HAV positivity and 2.99 (95% CI: 1.58-5.67; P=0.001) for anti-HEV positivity. Subjects born outside Hong Kong were more likely to have anti-HAV (adjusted OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 2.21-5.26; P<0.001) but not anti-HEV. Non-labour work people were less likely to have anti-HAV-adjusted OR, 0.40 (95% CI: 0.26-0.62; P<0.001). Age-specific HAV prevalence right shifted in the last 20 years. Anti-HAV positivity was less frequent, across all age groups, in subjects >21-years-old in the present study than another study done in 1987-89 (P<0.001). HAV prevalence only increased slightly in every 10-year age groups of people aged 21-50 when compared with their corresponding 10-year-younger age groups (P=0.11), suggesting an ageing cohort effect with no major infections in the last decade. For HEV, both the overall and age-specific prevalence decreased over the last decade (P<0.001). The increasing proportion of susceptible population to enterically transmitted viral hepatitis has implications to future prevention and control programmes, including vaccination strategies.
Special Preventive Programme, Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong. khwong@dhspp.net
K H
KH
Wong
Y M
YM
Liu
P S P
PS
Ng
B W Y
BW
Young
S S
SS
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D017957:Hepatitis A Virus, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G