title: Prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus among the Kuikuro and Kaiabi Indians of Xingu National Park, Brazil.
abstract: A seroprevalence study to detect total antibodies against Hepatitis A Virus was done with 220 samples from 589 Native Indians from Xingu National Park, Brazil, in five Kaiabi and Kuikuro villages, the most populous ethnic groups. Using a commercial immunoassay kit we detected 97.7% positive samples (95% Confidence Interval: 95%-99%). We noticed a precocious seroconversion, before the age of six years, when the disease is usually asymptomatic. These results are similar to those found in the literature in non-Indian population studies of the Northern, Northeastern and West Central regions of Brazil. They suggest that it is not necessary to introduce vaccination against Hepatitis A in these highly endemic populations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP-EPM), SP/Brazil. manulafer@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Manuel Mindlin
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lafer
authors.forename: Maria Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: de Moraes-Pinto
authors.forename: Lily Yin
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Weckx
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007199:Indians, South American; D007223:Infant; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies