Hepatitis A virus infection occurs globally and is causing a public health
concern, primarily in developing countries due to its persistent circulation in the
environment. A total of 120 individuals were included in this study, anti-HAV IgM
antibodies were detected in serum of 100 individuals of them (patients group) who
attended the Wasit central public health laboratory from different cities in Wasit
Province, Iraq, during the period from November 2013 to March 2014.While
another 20 individuals were considered as control group which anti – HAV IgM
antibody was negative in their serum.
Acute infection is confirmed by detection of IgM anti–hepatitis A virus (HAV),
which appears early in the course of infection, anti-HAV IgM antibodies were
significantly higher (P<0.001) in hepatitis A patients than control using a solid
phase, two-step incubation, antibody capture ELISA kit .
Most of the HAV patients were located within the first decade (1-10 years) with a
percentage of 91%, whereas 9% of all patients were within second decade (10-20
years). In this study, HAV infection is distributed equally among genders. Therefore,
there was no significant difference between females than male with a ratio of (1
female: 0.786 male) and percentage of 56% females than 44% males.
The aim of the study is to determine the distribution of acute HAV infection with
age and sex of the infected patient in Wasit province/ Iraq.