Evolution of the prevalence of the Hepatitis-A antibody in Sevilla

OBJECTIVE: To find the evolution of the prevalence of the Hepatitis-A antibody in Sevilla. DESIGN: Observational study of a crossover type. Comparison of results in 1995 with those from a similar study in 1981. SETTING: Health Area covered by Sevilla's University Hospital Virgen del Rocio. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Aliquots of serum from patients without Hepatitis were obtained from the hospital's clinical analysis laboratories. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The sera were analysed in the Nuclear Medicine laboratory of the HUVR. 37.96% (62.74% in 1981) of the individuals surveyed were HA-positive. Prevalence increased with age: in the over-24s it was over 75% (90% in 1981). The differences between the two sets of results was significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hepatitis-A infection is becoming less common in Andalusia, which can now be considered a low-incidence area.