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Preimmunization epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in South African children
Author(s) -
Vardas Eftyhia,
Mathai Mary,
Blaauw Duane,
McAnerney Jo,
Coppin Alison,
Sim John
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199906)58:2<111::aid-jmv2>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - hbsag , hepatitis b virus , epidemiology , medicine , hepatitis b , population , viral disease , immunology , age groups , demography , virus , virology , environmental health , sociology
The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was determined in a community‐based, cross‐sectional, age‐stratified sample of children from 0 to 6 years of age (n = 2,299) from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The purpose of the study was to investigate the epidemiology and the age of acquisition of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in children, thus providing a preimmunization baseline measure of this infection in the population targeted for HBV immunization in South Africa. Overall, 10.4% (95% CI, 9.2–11.7) of the children tested were HBsAg‐positive. There was a high rate of positivity in the 0–6‐ and 7–12‐month age groups at 8.1% (95% CI, 5.5–11.7) and 8.9% (95% CI, 6.1–12.7), respectively, suggesting a higher rate of early acquisition of this infection than previously reported in South Africa. The proportion of HBsAg‐positive children increased significantly with increasing age (χ trend 2= 5.9, df = 1, P = 0.02), reaching 15.7% in the 61–72‐month age group. This is the highest rate of HBV infection reported in community‐based children from South Africa, indicating a significant burden of this infection. The difference in HBsAg prevalence between urban and rural children was not statistically significant (χ 2 = 0.32, df = 1, P = 0.57). There was also no difference in positivity between males (10.5%; 95% CI, 8.7–12.5) and females (9.8%; 95% CI, 8.1–11.7), (χ 2 = 0.006, df = 1, P = 0.94). This study provides the most recent preimmunization, community‐based baseline investigation of the epidemiology of HBV infection in children targeted for universal immunization in South Africa. J. Med. Virol. 58:111–115, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.