Osong Public Health Res Perspect.
2012 Mar;3(1):31-35. 10.1016/j.phrp.2012.01.005.
Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A Infection in Northeastern China, Korea, and Japan
- Affiliations
-
- 1Division of Enteric and Hepatitis Viruses, Korea National Institute of Health, Osong, Korea.
- 2Division of Epidemiology and Health Index, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Osong, Korea.
- 3Department of Social & Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
- 4Department of Gastroenterology, Kobe Asahi Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
- 5Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
- KMID: 2518308
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrp.2012.01.005
Abstract
Objectives
The epidemiological patterns of endemic hepatitis A virus (HAV) are unclear in northeastern Asia depending on the ethnicity of the country in question. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of HAV in northeastern China, South Korea, and Japan.
Methods
A total of 1,500 serum samples were collected from five groups of inhabitants (300 each) who were over 40 years of age (Korean Chinese, indigenous Chinese, South Korean, Korean living in Japan, and indigenous Japanese). The samples were screened for antibodies to HAV using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
Positivity for HAV antibodies was 93.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90.9–96.4) in Koreans living in northeastern China, 99.7% (95% CI: 99.0–100.3) in indigenous Chinese, 98.0% (95% CI: 96.4–99.6) in indigenous Koreans, 33.3% (95% CI: 28.0–38.7) in Koreans living in Japan, and 20.4% (95% CI: 15.8–25.0) in indigenous Japanese persons. The overall anti-HAV prevalence was not significantly different between northeastern China and South Korea, but it was different in Japan.
Conclusions
These results indicate that differences in seroprevalence can be attributed to geological, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions rather than ethnicity.
