Reduced seroprevalence of Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is tied to improvements in socioeconomic conditions of the community. The National Institute of Virology, Pune has been associated with evaluating the seroprevalence of hepatitis viruses in Pune over the last four decades.

Overall, 1438 samples were obtained from urban general (UGEN), urban lower socioeconomic stratum (ULSES), and rural (RURAL) populations from Pune district. On the basis of estimates from previous studies, individuals were enrolled from age groups 6-10, 15-25 and more than 40 years.

There was a significant reduction in HAV seroprevalence in the younger population. There was a significant reduction in HAV seroprevalence in the 15-25 years age group in UGEN population from 85.9% to 73.9% and in RURAL population from 98.6% to 91.4%, thus suggesting that the trend possibly began over a decade ago.

HAV seroprevalence among ULSES 6-10 years old children was significantly higher (70.4%) compared to that among the RURAL children (44.2%) and UGEN children (40.4%).

Considering the increasing rates of urbanization in India, ULSES population must be given special consideration while designing future studies and viral hepatitis vaccination/elimination strategies.

Source: Deoshatwar AR, Gurav YK, Lole KS. Declining trends in Hepatitis A seroprevalence over the past two decades, 1998-2017, in Pune, Western India. Epidemiol Infect. 2020 May 8;1-11.