Seroprevalence of hepatitis A among individuals with chronic hepatitis B infection in Isfahan Province, Iran

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an important widespread virus and available evidences have shown that HAV superinfection with Chronic liver disease leads to more severe complications. The aim of the present study was to assess the seroepidemiology of HAV infection in patients with chronic hepatitis B in Isfahan Province, Iran in order to evaluate the necessity of vaccination for these patients. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from spring 2010 to spring 2011. The target population of this study was 51 patients with chronic hepatitis B infection who had referred to diseases Infectious and Tropical Medicine Research Center of Isfahan, Iran. Subject's characteristics were collected by questionnaire. IgG anti-HAV antibody was evaluated by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and statistical analysis was done by SPSS software using descriptive statistics. The mean age of the subjects was 38 ± 14.2 years. Most of the cases were male (78.1%), 42% of CHB patients were below or equal to 30 years. The anti-HAV seropositivity was (100%) so all of the patients had a previous history of infection with HAV. According to the high HAV immunity in our study (100%), vaccination was not required in these patients. However vaccination against HAV in chronic HBV patients with anti-HAV seronegatiy may prevent super infection and development of fulminant or severe hepatitis in these patients.