鄒族、泰雅族、布農族與排灣族A型肝炎盛行率之調查

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed a marked decline in the prevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in Asian populations, especially in children on account of the attribution from general improvements in socio-economic status, hygiene and public health care policy, which have, in turn, made a large population of young adults susceptible to the disease. The HAV infection rarely results in death. According to previous reports, it may be more severe in persons with underlying chronic liver disease (CLD). Because most parts of Asia are areas of endemic hepatitis B and C virus infection, where chronic hepatitis B and C are the mist important causes of CLD, it is therefore imperative to survey the HAV infection in Taiwan. The health conditions and living standards of aboriginals are obviously different from those of non-aboriginals. In order to figure out the public health issues, we survey the prevalence of hepatitis A for aboriginal inclusive of 142 participants from Atayal tribe, 127 participants from Tsou tribe, 53 participants from Bunun tribe, 44 participants from Paiwan tribe and 221 participants from non-aboriginals. The results show that the prevalence of hepatitis A is 100% for all four tribes, but only 68% for non-aboriginals (P＜0.001). This study provides further insight into the public issues which aboriginals face to and makes recommendation for future research.