Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis A Virus in Iranian Soldiers in 2006: Do They Need Vaccination?

Background and Aims: Since hepatitis A virus is a contagious viral infection, crowded military quarters are a fertile ground for the spread of this disease. This study sought to evaluate immunity against hepatitis A virus among Iranian military draftees so as to determine whether or not universal vaccination for the armed forces is necessary.

Methods: This cross-sectional study randomly selected 800 army draftees in Tehran , the capital city of Iran in 2006. Demographic data, namely age, occupation before call-up, education, and time of in-service, were collected. Five ml of blood was taken from all the subjects; the blood samples were then centrifuged and their serum was examined by the Elisa test with a broad test of Abbott-hepatitis A virus AB META-AXSYM system for total hepatitis A virus antibody. The data were subsequently analyzed with SPSS software, t-test, and Mann-Whitney's test. P<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: All the 800 soldiers were male with a mean age of 19±1SD years, and 702 (88%) of them were holders of a high school diploma with the rest being school dropouts. 781(97.63%) of the subjects had anti-hepatitis A virus antibody while the other 19 (2.37%) did not.

Conclusions: That 97.63% of the army draftees recruited into our study were immune to hepatitis A virus is an indication that vaccination for hepatitis A is not necessary for Iranian military conscripts at this juncture.