Age-specific prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen in pediatric population of Aligarh, North India.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the age-specific seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in children upto 14 years of age.


METHODS
Equal number (115 each) of apparently healthy children of both sexes of different age groups i.e. < 1, 1-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years, attending pediatric outpatient services and Well Baby Clinic of the hospital were tested for HBsAg using ELISA test. Positive results were confirmed by a second ELISA.


RESULTS
Overall 4.35% (95%CI, 2.44 - 6.25) of the 460 children tested were HBsAg positive. The prevalence rate was the highest (6.09%) in the 1-4 year age category. In the < 1, 5-9 and 10-14 year age groups it was 4.35%, 4.35% and 2.61% respectively. The overall male to female ratio was 2.1:1, with no significant difference in seropositivity rates (P = 0.816). The difference in the prevalence rates between the rural (4.84%) and urban populations (3.77%) was also statistically insignificant (P = 0.577).


CONCLUSIONS
Average HBsAg positivity in the pediatric population in this region is 4.35% (95%CI, 2.44 - 6.25). The prevalence progressively increases and peaks in the 1- 4 years age group. It is least in 10-14 years age group.
Qamer
Sheeba
S
Department of Pediatrics, J. N. Medical College, Aligarh, India.
Shahab
Tabassum
T
Alam
Seema
S
Malik
Abida
A
Afzal
Kamran
K
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens