Sentinel surveillance for patients with acute hepatitis in Egypt, 2001-04.
Viral hepatitis is a major problem in Egypt. To define the epidemiology of the disease, sentinel surveillance was established in 5 hospitals in diverse areas of the country in 2001. Data were completed for patients meeting the case definition for viral hepatitis. Of a total of 5909 patients evaluated, 4189 (70.9%) showed positive antibody markers for hepatitis. Out of those, 40.2% had evidence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, 30.0% hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 29.8% hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This surveillance system was useful in identifying the variable endemicity of acute HAV infection in different regions and for better understanding the epidemiology of HBV and HCV infection.
Talaat
M
M
US Naval Medical Research Unit, No.3, Cairo, Egypt. maha.talaat.ctr.eg@med.navy.mil
El-Sayed
N
N
Kandeel
A
A
Azab
M A
MA
Afifi
S
S
Youssef
F G
FG
Ismael
T
T
Hajjeh
R
R
Mahoney
F J
FJ
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution