Hepatitis E virus and hepatitis A virus exposures in an apparently healthy high-risk population in Italy

Purpose The prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) and anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV), as well as the possible links with socio-demographic and other viral risks factors, were evaluated in an inmates population. Methods The study population consisted of 973 consecutively recruited inmates of eight...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection 2013-02, Vol.41 (1), p.69-76
Main Authors: Rapicetta, M., Monarca, R., Kondili, L. A., Chionne, P., Madonna, E., Madeddu, G., Soddu, A., Candido, A., Carbonara, S., Mura, M. S., Starnini, G., Babudieri, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Citizenship
Clinical and Epidemiological Study
Economic factors
Family Medicine
Female
General Practice
Hepatitis
Hepatitis A - epidemiology
Hepatitis A virus
Hepatitis A virus - immunology
Hepatitis Antibodies - blood
Hepatitis Antibodies - immunology
Hepatitis E - epidemiology
Hepatitis E virus - immunology
Humans
Infectious Diseases
Internal Medicine
Italy - epidemiology
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Population Surveillance
Regression analysis
Risk Factors
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Socioeconomics
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Purpose The prevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) and anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV), as well as the possible links with socio-demographic and other viral risks factors, were evaluated in an inmates population. Methods The study population consisted of 973 consecutively recruited inmates of eight Italian prisons. Results The anti-HEV prevalence was 11.6 % (113/973). It increased significantly by age (χ 2 for linear trend: p  = 0.001) and was significantly higher among non-Italian compared to Italian inmates (15.3 vs. 10.7 %, respectively). Age >40 years [odds ratio (OR) 2.1; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.4–3.1], non-Italian citizenship (OR 1.8; 95 % CI 1.1–2.9) and anti-HIV seropositivity (OR 2.2; 95 % CI 1.2–4.2) were the only factors independently associated to anti-HEV positivity by logistic regression analysis. The overall anti-HAV prevalence was 86.4 %, and was significantly higher in non-Italian compared to Italian prisoners (92.6 vs. 84.9 %, respectively; p  = 0.02). Age older than 40 years (OR 3.6; 95 % CI 2.2–5.9),
ISSN:0300-8126
1439-0973
DOI:10.1007/s15010-012-0385-8