P-50 PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS AMONG STUDENTS AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AT THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF BAHIA

Introduction

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a hepatotrophic virus of fecal-oral transmission. Occupational exposure in the health area is not considered a risk of HAV contagion. Adults are more likely to develop fulminant hepatitis. In Brazil, those over 20 years of age have a high prevalence of anti-HAV antibodies (IgGHAV).

Objective

To study the prevalence of IgGHAV in college students (group 1) and professionals (group 2) of the health area of the Federal University of Bahia.

Methods

The sample consisted of 335 individuals who completed an epidemiological questionnaire and in whom IgGHAV was studied in sera.

Results

IgGHAV was present in 56.9% of all individuals, being 43.9% susceptible. IgGHAV was in 94.4% of group 2 and in 48.8% of group 1 (p = 0.000). There were no statistical differences between ethnicities. There was an association between professional category and report of exposure to biological material (p = 0.017), but not between seropositivity and report of this exposure. These data reflect both occupational and environmental exposure. Greater seropositivity in older professionals can also mean greater environmental exposure throughout life. In this study, curiously, greater exposure to biological material did not have a significant association with seropositivity for HAV, recalling the importance of exposure also in the extra-academic community.

Conclusion

This study showed that 43.9% of the individuals who start studies in the health area of our university are susceptible to contracting HAV infection, which generates an epidemiological reconsideration of the need for vaccination in this population in the vaccine calendar from Brazil concerning the last VHA outbreaks in special population as MSM.

Financial Grant

CAPES and CNPq.