A Hospital-based Retrospective Study on Frequency and Distribution of Viral Hepatitis
Authors
Jimmy Antony
Department of Community Medicine, M.O.S.C Medical College, Kolenchery, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India
TM Celine
Department of Community Medicine, M.O.S.C Medical College, Kolenchery, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India
Keywords:
Age, Sex and cause, Viral hepatitis
Abstract
Viral hepatitis is a major public health problem throughout the world. It is the inflammation of the liver due to the infection of any of the five main hepatic viruses A to E and it affects the liver through different modes of transmission. This study mainly aims at the frequency and distribution of viral hepatitis based on age and sex during a time period of 5 years.
Materials and Methods:
This is a hospital-based retrospective study of 5 years at a tertiary level hospital in Kerala state in India. Medical records department of the hospital follow the guidelines of International Classification of Diseases-10 for coding the diseases. The data on frequency and distribution of viral hepatitis based on age and sex during a period of 5 years from April 2005 to March 2010 were collected and analyzed and ‘z’ test was used for finding out the difference in proportions.
Result:
Out of 818 cases, 76.03% were males and 23.96% were females. The preponderance of males was apparent in all types of viral hepatitis infection. The high risk groups were the adults in the age group of 20-39 years. The main cause in the present study was hepatitis E virus (HEV) and followed by hepatitis A virus (HAV). Of total viral hepatitis cases, 31.54% were due to HAV, 6.35% hepatitis B virus, 0.85% hepatitis C virus and 61.24% were due to HEV respectively. In the present study, there was no case of hepatitis D virus has reported. The case fatality rate of viral hepatitis in the present study was minor than 1% (0.98%); whereas males were 0.96%; females of 1.02%.
Conclusion:
Taking the safety measures including vaccination and proper management of waste materials are the only solution to control or eradicate this infection.
Keywords: Age, Sex and cause, Viral hepatitis
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