[Hepatitis B in indigenous people in Latin America: a literature reviewHepatite B em indígenas na América Latina: revisão da literatura].

OBJECTIVE

Identify publications from 2000 to 2020 on hepatitis B in indigenous people in Latin America, to learn about advances and gaps in this field in the last 20 years.

METHODS

Exploratory review and systematic evidence review. Documents were organized using Excel and Rayyan® software.

RESULTS

We selected 30 of 107 articles found: 17 epidemiological studies, 10 document reviews, 2 clinical studies, and 1 letter to the editor. Brazil was the country with the most publications (50%), most of them with an epidemiological approach. The topic most often addressed was hepatitis B prevalence with 22 publications, followed by 11 studies reporting results of molecular studies of the virus, 7 studies on vaccination, 5 studies on risk factors, and 4 publications with topics such as vertical transmission and studies of social issues.

CONCLUSION

Compared to previous reviews by other authors, we saw greater diversity in topics and research methods; however, conventional epidemiological approaches that focus on measuring prevalence of serological markers still predominate. Thus, there is a need for other types of research focused on sociocultural determinants.