Manpower Standards & Development Division, Ministry of Health, Singapore College of Medicine Building, 16 College Road, Singapore 169854, Singapore.
J Infect. 2013 May;66(5):453-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2012.11.015. Epub 2012 Dec 31.
We undertook an epidemiological review to determine the trend and characteristics of acute hepatitis E in Singapore over the last 12 years.
We analysed the epidemiological records of all laboratory-confirmed cases of acute hepatitis E maintained at the Communicable Diseases Division, Ministry of Health, from 2000 to 2011.
A total of 540 laboratory-confirmed cases of acute hepatitis E was reported with more than half imported, mainly from India and Bangladesh. Among the indigenous cases, the mean annual incidence per 100,000 population increased from 0.05 in 2000-2002 to 0.92 in 2009-2011. There was a male predominance and the median age was 46 years. Among the 3 major ethnic groups of Singapore residents, Chinese and Indians had higher mean annual incidence rate compared to Malays. All the indigenous cases occurred singly and sporadically and could not be epidemiologically linked to one another by person, place or time. No common food item was implicated.
Indigenous acute hepatitis E has emerged as a major cause of acute viral hepatitis in Singapore. While epidemiological investigations are ongoing to elucidate the risk factors and modes of transmission, travellers should be reminded to practise a high standard of personal and food hygiene when visiting endemic countries.
我们进行了一项流行病学综述，以确定过去 12 年来新加坡急性戊型肝炎的趋势和特征。
我们分析了 2000 年至 2011 年期间卫生部传染病司保存的所有实验室确诊的急性戊型肝炎的流行病学记录。
共报告了 540 例实验室确诊的急性戊型肝炎病例，其中一半以上为输入性病例，主要来自印度和孟加拉国。在本地病例中，每 10 万人的年平均发病率从 2000-2002 年的 0.05 上升到 2009-2011 年的 0.92。男性居多，中位年龄为 46 岁。在新加坡居民的 3 大族群中，华人及印度人比马来人有更高的年平均发病率。所有本地病例均为散发性，彼此之间无法在人与人、地点或时间上进行流行病学关联。没有共同的食物与该疾病相关联。
本土急性戊型肝炎已成为新加坡急性病毒性肝炎的主要病因。虽然正在进行流行病学调查以阐明危险因素和传播模式，但旅行者在前往流行地区时应提醒他们注意个人和食物卫生的高标准。
