TITLE:
Hepatitis A Antibody Seroprevalence in a Selected Kenyan Pediatric Population
AUTHORS:
Aggrey Wasunna, Florence Murila, Moses M. Obimbo, Mwaswere J. Rama, Horatius Musembi
KEYWORDS:
Seroprevalence, Hepatitis A, Pediatrics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.6 No.4,
December
14,
2016
ABSTRACT: The
incidence of infection by Hepatitis A virus shows regional variation being highest
in developing countries. Determination of age specific Hepatitis A virus (HAV) seroprevalence
and the associated risk factors would help better plan for national preventive
strategies including vaccination. We carried out a cross-sectional study on 300
children from Nairobi city, Kenya during the years 2003-2004. The age range of the children was 2 - 14 years and were from low and high
socioeconomic status (SES) families. The indicators of SES included employment
status, residence, number of children per patient’s household, parents’ level
of education and source of drinking water. SES was encoded and analysed using Statistical
Program for Social Sciences (SSPS) version 16.0. Seroprevalence increased significantly with advancing age. Seropositivity of HAV antibodies was significantly higher among
children of low SES, 77.6% by the age of 14 years compared to children of high
SES, 38.9% by the same age. Crowded household and parental education were
significantly associated with high seropositivity and seronegativity
respectively. There is significant rate of seronegativity amongst the studied population especially those from
richer backgrounds making them more susceptible to severe infection in future
with concomitant complications. We propose that revision of national
vaccination program should be considered to include Hepatitis A vaccination.