Abstract: Objective To analyze epidemic characteristics of viral hepatitis in nearly 60 years in Huangpu district of Shanghai city and to evaluate effectiveness of viral hepatitis prevention and control.Methods Data on annual incidence of viral hepatitis in Huangpu district between 1956 and 2011 were extracted from papers and electronic datasets.Ecology research method was used to analyze prevalence trend and characteristics and regional difference of viral hepatitis epidemics.Results The incidence rate of viral hepatitis was at a high level from 1956 to 1994,with the highest incidence rate of 5191.78/100 000 in 1988,and then at a relatively low level after 1995.The annual mortality rate of viral hepatitis was high during the period 1960 to 1980 and then declined to a relatively low level after 1999;the average annual mortality rate was 0.10/100 000 during the period from 2000 to 2011.There were more male viral hepatitis cases than the female cases,with a male to female ratio of 1.67:1.Higher viral hepatitis A and B incidence rate (3.81/100 000 and 8.71/100 000) were observed among the persons aged 30-40 years and more incidents of hepatitis A and E were reported between January and April of a year.Conclusion The measures for viral hepatitis prevention and control were effective in Huangpu district of Shanghai city during the period from 1956 to 2011.