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TY - JOUR

T1 - Ethnic differences in hepatitis A and E virus seroprevalence in patients attending the Emergency Department, Paramaribo, Suriname

AU - Mac Donald-Ottevanger, M. S.

AU - Prins, Maria

AU - van Dissel, Jaap

AU - Rier, Neela

AU - Reimerink, Johan

AU - Zijlmans, Wilco C. W. R.

AU - Vreden, Stephen G. S.

AU - Boyd, Anders

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by RIVM and AGIS healthcare insurance; Grant number-AIF 499263 AGIS Innovatiefonds. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s).

PY - 2023/3/1

Y1 - 2023/3/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) have enteric modes of transmission and are common causes of acute hepatitis in low- and middle-income countries. HEV is also characterised as a zoonotic infection and is prevalent in high-income countries. Data on HAV and HEV prevalence in Suriname, a middle-income country in South America, are scarce. METHODS: Serum samples of 944 and 949 randomly selected patients attending the Emergency Department at the Academic Hospital of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, were analysed for anti-HAV antibodies (anti-HAV) and anti-HEV antibodies (anti-HEV), respectively. Determinants of anti-HAV and anti-HEV positive serology were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Anti-HAV prevalence was 58.3% (95% CI 55.4 to 61.4%) and higher prevalence was independently associated with belonging to the Tribal or Indigenous population and older age. Anti-HEV prevalence was 3.7% (95% CI 2.6 to 5.0%) and higher prevalence was associated with Tribal and Creole ethnicity and older age. CONCLUSIONS: In Suriname, exposure to HAV is consistent with a very low endemic country and exposure to HEV was rare. Both viruses were more prevalent in specific ethnic groups. As anti-HAVantibodies were less frequently found in younger individuals, they could be susceptible to potential HAV outbreaks and might require HAV vaccination.

AB - BACKGROUND: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) have enteric modes of transmission and are common causes of acute hepatitis in low- and middle-income countries. HEV is also characterised as a zoonotic infection and is prevalent in high-income countries. Data on HAV and HEV prevalence in Suriname, a middle-income country in South America, are scarce. METHODS: Serum samples of 944 and 949 randomly selected patients attending the Emergency Department at the Academic Hospital of Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, were analysed for anti-HAV antibodies (anti-HAV) and anti-HEV antibodies (anti-HEV), respectively. Determinants of anti-HAV and anti-HEV positive serology were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Anti-HAV prevalence was 58.3% (95% CI 55.4 to 61.4%) and higher prevalence was independently associated with belonging to the Tribal or Indigenous population and older age. Anti-HEV prevalence was 3.7% (95% CI 2.6 to 5.0%) and higher prevalence was associated with Tribal and Creole ethnicity and older age. CONCLUSIONS: In Suriname, exposure to HAV is consistent with a very low endemic country and exposure to HEV was rare. Both viruses were more prevalent in specific ethnic groups. As anti-HAVantibodies were less frequently found in younger individuals, they could be susceptible to potential HAV outbreaks and might require HAV vaccination.

KW - Suriname

KW - epidemiology

KW - hepatitis A virus

KW - hepatitis E virus

KW - indigenous population

KW - multiethnic population

KW - tribal population

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149176264&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/trstmh/trac101

DO - 10.1093/trstmh/trac101

M3 - Article

C2 - 36353973

VL - 117

SP - 197

EP - 204

JO - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

JF - Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

SN - 0035-9203

IS - 3

ER -