Hepatite A: soroprevalência e fatores associados em escolares de São Luís (MA), Brasil Hepatitis A: seroprevalence and associated factors among schoolchildren of São Luís (MA), Brazil

Abstract Objectives : To estimate the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis A virus (antiVHA‑IgG) in children aged 7‑14 years from public and private schools, and to identify demographic, socioeconomic and sanitation factors associated with the prevalence of antiVHA Methods:‑IgG. Seroepidemiological study for the detection of IgG antiVHA. It was conducted from April 2002 to April 2004 with 462 elementary school students from Sao Luis, ranging from 7 to 14‑years of age. Thirty schools randomly selected took part in the study, with a probability proportional to the number of students enrolled; 23 schools were public and 7 were private. Data was obtained through a structured questionnaire. In order to identify the variables independently associated with IgG antiVHA, the Poisson multiple regression analysis was performed, estimating the adjusted PRs and their 95% confidence intervals. The variables associated with the prevalence of hepatitis A with p < 0 were the only ones that remained in the final model. The level of significance of 0.05 ( α = 0.05) was adopted.