Age wise seroprevalence of hepatitis viral markers in acute infectious hepatitis patients at a tertiary care centre in India

Introduction: Age wise seroprevalence of acute viral hepatitis still remains debatable. The burden of the disease could be reduced to a considerable extent, if seroprevalence of different viruses are known for various age groups. Objectives: To determine the age wise seroprevalence of hepatitis viral markers in clinically suspected infectious hepatitis at a tertiary care hospital in urban India Methodology: This prospective study was conducted over a period of 1 year from January -December 2008. The study arm had 600 patients with clinically suspected acute infectious hepatitis while control arm had 200 age and sex matched subjects. Both groups were divided into 0-10,11-20, 21-30, 31-40 and >40 years age groups .Serum samples were tested for IgM anti HAV, IgM anti HEV, IgM anti HCV and HBsAg using commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results: Highest seropositivity of anti-HAV IgM was in 0-10 years of age for the study arm. HAV seroprevalence decreased with increasing age. Highest seropositivity of HBsAg was in 20-30 years of age group for the study group (7.6%) followed by 11-20 years (4.5%), 0-10 years (2.8%) and >40 years (2.5%). Highest seropositivity to IgM anti HCV was seen in 11-20 years(9%) in the study arm followed by 21-30 years (6.1%), 0-10 years (5.1%) and >40 years (3.7%) of age. Highest seropositivity of anti-HEV IgM was in the 21-30 years (10.7%) in the study arm followed by 31-40 years (2.9%), 11-20 years (2.7%) and 0-10 years (0.9%). Conclusion: Both HAV and HEV are significant causes of enterically transmitted acute viral hepatitis. HAV is the major cause of acute viral hepatitis in childhood. Hepatitis B virus is the major cause of acute viral hepatitis in adults. HCV is a common cause of acute hepatitis in young adults. HCV infections remain under reported while the actual disease burden is much higher.