Al Faleh Faleh, Al Shehri Suliman, Al Ansari Saleh, Al Jeffri Mohammed, Al Mazrou Yaqoub, Shaffi Ahmad, Abdo Ayman-A
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia.
World J Gastroenterol. 2008 Dec 28;14(48):7371-5. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.7371.
To determine the seroprevalence of Hepatitis A (HAV) amongst Saudi children and compare it with previously reported prevalence data from the same population.
A total of 1357 students were randomly selected between the ages of 16 and 18 years (689 males and 668 females) from three different regions of Saudi Arabia (Madinah, Al-Qaseem, and Aseer) and tested for anti-HAV-IgG.
The overall prevalence of anti-HAV-IgG among the study population was 18.6%. There was no difference between males and females but there was a significant difference in the seroprevalence (P = 0.0001) between the three different regions, with Madinah region showing the highest prevalence (27.4%). When classified according to socioeconomic status, lower class students had a prevalence of 36.6%, lower middle class 16.6%, upper middle class 9.6%, and upper class 5.9% (P = 0.0001). Comparing the current study results with those of previous studies in 1989 and 1997 involving the same population, there was a marked reduction in the overall prevalence of HAV from 52% in 1989, to 25% in 1997, to 18.6% in 2008 (P < 0.0001).
Over the last 18 years, there has been a marked decline in the prevalence of HAV in Saudi children and adolescents. The current low prevalence rates call for strict adherence to vaccination policies in high-risk patients and raises the question of a universal HAV vaccination program.
确定沙特儿童中甲型肝炎（HAV）的血清流行率，并与之前报道的同一人群的流行率数据进行比较。
从沙特阿拉伯三个不同地区（麦地那、卡西姆和阿西尔）随机选取1357名年龄在16至18岁之间的学生（689名男性和668名女性），检测抗HAV-IgG。
研究人群中抗HAV-IgG的总体流行率为18.6%。男性和女性之间无差异，但三个不同地区的血清流行率存在显著差异（P = 0.0001），麦地那地区的流行率最高（27.4%）。按社会经济地位分类时，下层阶级学生的流行率为36.6%，中下层阶级为16.6%，中上层阶级为9.6%，上层阶级为5.9%（P = 0.0001）。将当前研究结果与1989年和1997年涉及同一人群的先前研究结果进行比较，HAV的总体流行率从1989年的52%显著下降至1997年的25%，再到2008年的18.6%（P < 0.0001）。
在过去18年中，沙特儿童和青少年中HAV的流行率显著下降。当前的低流行率要求高危患者严格遵守疫苗接种政策，并引发了关于普遍接种HAV疫苗计划的问题。
