The Prevalence of Hepatitis A Causing Acute Viral Hepatitis in Western Rajasthan

Introduction: Hepatitis A is one of the leading agents to cause acute viral hepatitis in India. It is enterically transmitted and cause asymptomatic or mild symptomatic acute viral hepatitis. Knowledge of HAV prevalence can help in selecting appropriate vaccine and preventive strategies to fight against it. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from the patients suspected for acute viral hepatitis and serum was separated after centrifugation. ELISA was performed for the detection of anti-HAV IgM and results were recorded as optical density value and compared with cut off value. Result: A total of 297 patients were tested and 24% (n=71) were found to be positive for Anti HAV IgM antibodies with 60.6% (n=43) males and 39.4% (n=28) females. The highest positivity was observed in children below the age of 5 years. Conclusion: The prevalence of HAV infection is high in western Rajasthan and educating the local population about improving personal hygiene and designing vaccination strategy is required.