The prevalence of viral hepatitis (HAV, HBV and HCV) in the Christchurch community.

AIM

To determine the prevalence of hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) in adults randomly selected from the Christchurch community.

METHODS

A list of names was randomly generated from the Christchurch electoral roll and subjects were sequentially contacted and invited to participate. A blood sample was taken and tested for hepatitis A (IgG anti-HAV antibody), hepatitis B (HBsAg and anti-HBc) and HCV (anti-HCV antibody) using Abbott Elisa kits. Subjects positive for HBsAg were also tested for HBeAg/HBV DNA. Those positive for anti-HBc were tested for anti-HBs. HCV antibody positive samples were tested for HCV RNA using PCR.

RESULTS

1064 subjects (30.3% of those invited) participated in the study. The prevalence of HAV antibodies was 27.9%, and increased with age. The overall prevalence of HBV markers was 42/1064 (4.2%), and of these 0.3% were HBsAg positive and 3.9% were considered immune. No gender or ethnic differences in these proportions were observed. The seroprevalence of HVC antibody was 3/1064 (0.3%), two of whom were also PCR positive for HCV RNA.

CONCLUSION

In the Christchurch community there was a high prevalence of antibodies to HAV, which increased with age. The prevalence of HBsAg and antibody to HCV were both low at 0.3%.