title: Seroprevalence of hepatitis a and e viruses based on the third Korea national health and nutrition survey in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Korea during 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study subjects were selected from across Korea using a stratified multistage probability sampling design, and HAV and HEV seroprevalence was compared on the basis of sex, age, and residency. A total of 497 rural and urban people aged 10-99 years of age (mean ± SD age = 28.87 ± 17.63 years) were selected by two-stage cluster sampling and tested serologically for anti-HAV and anti-HEV IgG using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among this population, the overall seroprevalence of HAV was 63.80% (55.21% aged in their 20s and 95.92% in their 30s, p < 0.01) and that of HEV was 9.40% (5.21% aged in their 20s and 7.14% in their 30s, p < 0.01). Seroprevalence also varied according to area of residence. HEV prevalence in rural areas was higher than that of urban regions based on the anti-HEV antibody, odds ratio 3.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.46-7.10, p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between male and female against anti-HAV/HEV antibodies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggested that the seropositive rates of HAV and HEV might be related to age and environmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric and Hepatitis Viruses, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Osong, Korea.
authors.forename: Haesun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Hyeok-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Doosung
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Chaeshin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Kyung Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Young Taek
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Youngmee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jee
keywords: Korea; hepatitis A virus; hepatitis E virus; seroprevalence