Hepatitis E virus seropositivity in Malatya

Abstract

In order to determine the Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) seropositivity in Malatya, a total of 600 sera was collected from people with different socio-economic levels and age groups. Anti-HEV IgG and IgM antibodies were investigated by enzyme immunoassay. Hepatitis E Virus seropositivity was found to be 9.8%. This value was 13% in the group of low socio-economic level and 6.7% in the group of high socio-economic level. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The highest seropositivity was observed in the 11-20 age group. The results indicated that HEV seropositivity obtained in Malatya was among the high rates in Turkey and that low socio-economic level significantly increased HEV seropositivity.

Özet

Malatya'da Hepatit E Virüs (HEV) seropozitifliğini saptamak amacıyla farklı sosyo-ekonomik düzey ve yaş gruplarından toplam 600 kişiden kan alındı. Enzyme immunoassay ticari kiti kullanılarak anti-HEV IgG ve IgM pozitifliği araştırıldı. Hepatit E Virüs seropozitifliği %9.8 olarak saptandı. Bu değer, sosyo-ekonomik düzeyi düşük olan grupta %13, iyi olan grupta %6.7 idi. İki grup arasında istatiksel olarak anlamlı fark vardı (p