1. Community-Based Seroepidemiological Survey of Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Catalonia, Spain
- Author
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Francisco Rodriguez-Frias, Mélani Schaper, Luis Salleras, R. Jardi, P. Plans, Angela Domínguez, Maria Buti, Antoni Plasència, Neus Cardeñosa, Jordi Espuñes, and Rafael Esteban
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Microbiology (medical) ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Multivariate analysis ,Adolescent ,Clinical Biochemistry ,Immunology ,Population ,medicine.disease_cause ,Hepatitis E virus ,Seroepidemiologic Studies ,Internal medicine ,Humans ,Immunology and Allergy ,Medicine ,Seroprevalence ,Hepatitis Antibodies ,education ,Aged ,education.field_of_study ,business.industry ,Data Collection ,Odds ratio ,Middle Aged ,Hepatitis E ,medicine.disease ,Confidence interval ,Spain ,Female ,Microbial Immunology ,business ,Abdominal surgery - Abstract
The objective of the study was to investigate the prevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in a population sample from Catalonia and to analyze the demographic and clinical variables associated with the presence of these antibodies. A total of 1,280 subjects between 15 and 74 years of age were selected randomly from urban and rural areas. Data for sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected by using a questionnaire. IgG antibodies to HEV were determined by an immunoenzymatic method. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated for studied variables. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine which variables were independently associated with the prevalence of HEV infection. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 96 (7.3%) of the 1,280 samples analyzed. The prevalence of antibodies was greater among males (7.8%) than among women (7%) and increased with age for both sexes, from 3% among subjects 15 to 24 years of age to 12% among subjects ≥65 years of age. Bivariate analysis of the sociodemographic and clinical variables showed an association between the prevalence of hepatitis E virus infection and minor surgery (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.24 to 3.11), abdominal surgery (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.12 to 2.73), and, for women, being uniparous or multiparous (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.19 to 6.79). The multivariate analysis showed an association with minor surgery only (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.70). In conclusion, anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 7.3% of the Catalan population. The seroprevalence of anti-HEV antibodies increased with age and was associated with previous minor surgery.
- Published
- 2006
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