학술논문
Prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus among the Kuikuro and Kaiabi Indians of Xingu National Park, Brazil
Document Type
article
Source
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. June 2007 49(3)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
0036-4665
Abstract
A seroprevalence study to detect total antibodies against Hepatitis A Virus was done with 220 samples from 589 Native Indians from Xingu National Park, Brazil, in five Kaiabi and Kuikuro villages, the most populous ethnic groups. Using a commercial immunoassay kit we detected 97.7% positive samples (95% Confidence Interval: 95%-99%). We noticed a precocious seroconversion, before the age of six years, when the disease is usually asymptomatic. These results are similar to those found in the literature in non-Indian population studies of the Northern, Northeastern and West Central regions of Brazil. They suggest that it is not necessary to introduce vaccination against Hepatitis A in these highly endemic populations.