Infective status of hepatitis B virus and its influence factors in Shaanxi province

Objective To describe the epidemic status of hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection in Shaanxi province and to study the risk factors of HBV infection.Methods A multistage randomized sampling method was used.Totally 2224 persons were sampled to collect information on HBV infection-related behavior and to take serum sample for the test of HBV infection with ELISA.Results The infection rate of HBV in the subjects was 37.58% and decreased by 23.35% compared with the data in 1992.Children under 5 years had the lowest rate.The rate of HBV infection in the children under 15 years were lower than that of above 15 years old.The infection rate of HBV in rural subjects were higher than that of the urban subjects and the rate of HBV infection among the people who had received vaccination was lower than that of people had not.The infection rate of HBV was high in unlettered population and in cadre,farmer and service worker.The main risk factors of HBV infection were history of operation,cavitas oris diagnosis and treatment,acupuncture therapy,sharing syringe,and having traumatogenic cosmetology.Conclusion The infection rate of HBV in the population studied declined,especially in children under 15 years old.The next work should be enhancing vaccination in rural areas,developing appropriate education program.The vaccination among people at high risk is also an important measure to prevent hepatitis B.