Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A Virus in Iranian Soldiers in 2006: Do They Need Vaccination?
Gholam Ali Ghorbani
1
, *
,
Seyed Moayed Alavian
2
and
Shervin Assari
3
1 Assistant Professor of Military Health Research Center,Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases,Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, gholamalighorbani@yahoo.com, Tehran, IR.IRAN
2 Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences,Tehran Hepatitis Center, editor@hepmon.ir, Tehran, IR.IRAN
3 Methodological Assistant, Medicine and Health Promotion Institute, Tehran, IR.IRAN
*
Assistant Professor of Military Health Research Center,Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases,Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, gholamalighorbani@yahoo.com, Tehran, IR.IRAN. Tel: 989122977463. Fax: 982188057023. Email:
gholamalighorbani@yahoo.com
Hepatitis Monthly: 7 (1) ; 7-9 Article Type: Research Article
Received:
February 10, 2006
Accepted:
September 30, 2006
To Cite:
Ghorbani
G, Alavian
S, Assari
S. Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A Virus in Iranian Soldiers in 2006: Do They Need Vaccination?,
Hepat Mon.
Online ahead of Print
; 7(1):7-9.
Abstract
Background and Aims: Since hepatitis A virus is a contagious viral infection, crowded military quarters are a fertile ground for the spread of this disease. This study sought to evaluate immunity against hepatitis A virus among Iranian military draftees so as to determine whether or not universal vaccination for the armed forces is necessary.
Methods: This cross-sectional study randomly selected 800 army draftees in Tehran , the capital city of Iran in 2006. Demographic data, namely age, occupation before call-up, education, and time of in-service, were collected. Five ml of blood was taken from all the subjects; the blood samples were then centrifuged and their serum was examined by the Elisa test with a broad test of Abbott-hepatitis A virus AB META-AXSYM system for total hepatitis A virus antibody. The data were subsequently analyzed with SPSS software, t-test, and Mann-Whitney's test. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: All the 800 soldiers were male with a mean age of 19±1SD years, and 702 (88%) of them were holders of a high school diploma with the rest being school dropouts. 781(97.63%) of the subjects had anti-hepatitis A virus antibody while the other 19 (2.37%) did not.
Conclusions: That 97.63% of the army draftees recruited into our study were immune to hepatitis A virus is an indication that vaccination for hepatitis A is not necessary for Iranian military conscripts at this juncture.
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