Prevalence of hepatitis a & e among sporadic cases of acute hepatitis from a tertiary care hospital of western india

Background: Hepatitis A and E are highly endemic and are significant contributors of morbidity and mortality in India. Retrospective analysis of the data was carried out to find the prevalence of hepatitis A and E virus ( HAV & HEV ) among the acute sporadic hepatitis patients. Aim: To find the prevalence of hepatitis A & E among sporadic cases of acute hepatitis from a tertiary care hospital. Settings and Design: Retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care Hospital Materials & methods: Data from July 2014 to December 2015 regarding IgM HAV and IgM HEV ELISA was analysed. Results: Prevalence of HAV infection was 10.6%, HEV was 20 % and HAV & HEV co infection was found to be 5.9 %. Majority of the patients were adults. HEV infection was more commonly seen in females. Conclusion: HAV continues to be a disease of childhood, age less than 12 years and HEV of older children and adults, age more than 12 years. HEV is a significant contributor of morbidity & mortality among the pregnant patients. It is imperative to prevent faecal contamination of drinking water, improve sanitation, eating and hand hygiene practices. These practices have known to decrease the prevalence in developed countries.