Hepatitis E virus infection among population in Shenzhen city

ObjectiveTo explore seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis E virus(HEV)IgG among the population in Shenzhen and to provide evidence for the prevention and control of hepatitis E.MethodsMulti-stage random cluster sampling was used to select subjects aged over one year from general population in Shenzhen.All subjects were interviewed with a questionnaire and their venous blood specimens were collected for anti-HEV IgG test with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)kits.The data were analyzed with SPSS 16.0 software.Results The crude seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG was 23.68% (95% confidence intervalCI:22.33%-25.04%)among the subjects.The positive rate of man(23.72%) was slightly higher than that of woman(23.64%)without significant difference.There was an increasing trend in the prevalence with the age.The prevalence was lower in the subjects of Luohu district than that in Baoan district(χ²=49.603,P<0.05).The prevalence in the farmers was the highest among the subjects of different occupations.The subject with the education of primary school had the highest seroprevalence.ConclusionIn general,the seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG is relatively high among the population in Shenzhen.