Seroprevalencia del virus de la hepatitis A en ni？os de 1 a 15 a？os en un hospital universitario

introduction: hepatitis a is an infectious disease caused by a non-encapsulated rna virus of the picornaviridae family, classified as hepatovirus. it is transmitted by a fecal-oral route, either from person to person or in common source epidemics. objective: the aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of igg antibodies against the hepatitis a virus in children aged 1-15 years, treated in a university hospital as part of a national collaborative study. methods: a descriptive study was performed between june and november 2007. the antibody titers were detected by means of a microparticle capture enzyme immunoassay. a survey to identify risk factors was conducted for each participant, with additional variables under study. results: we studied 422 children. the overall prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis a was 29.1%, with 37.1% in the group of 5 to 9 years of age, 36.1% for 10 to 15, and 13.8% for 1 to 4. the highest proportion of antibody prevalence was found in children of the lowest socioeconomic status, 44.2% for the stratum 1 and 27.9% for the stratum 2. conclusion: the seroprevalence to hepatitis a virus was lower in children with less than five years of age, which is an indication of a transition of the epidemiological profile to an intermediate one. the prevalence was higher in children of low socioeconomic levels, which may be related to overcrowding and poor hygiene practices