[Hepatitis A and hepatitis E seroprevalence in adults in the Ankara area].

In this study, between the period of September 2000 to July 2001, hepatitis A virus (HAV) IgG antibodies and hepatitis E virus (HEV) total (IgG + IgM) antibodies have been searched by using commercially provided enzyme immunoassay kits (Axsym, Abbott USA), in 1046 adults aged between 15-75 years old (mean age: 32.3 years), who were admitted to the outpatient clinics of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Department of Ankara University Medical School, with no acute hepatitis signs and symptoms. As a result, anti-HAV and anti-HEV seropositivities were detected in 914 (87.4%) and 40 (3.8%) subjects, respectively. The seropositivity rate for anti-HAV was 72.7% at the ages of 15-30 years, while anti-HEV was negative in this age group. Anti-HAV and anti-HEV seropositivity rates were found to be the highest between the ages of 30-60 years.