Epidemiology and Outcome of Severe Hepatitis A Infection in Children in Kuwait

Vol. 15, No. 4, 2006

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Original Paper

Epidemiology and Outcome of Severe Hepatitis A Infection in Children in Kuwait
Entesar Husain^a, Jaffar A. Al-Tawfiq^c, Khalid Husain^b

^aDepartment of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases Hospital, and
^bDepartment of Pediatrics, Al-Amiri Hospital, Kuwait;
^cInternal Medicine Services Division, Dhahran Health Center, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Address of Corresponding Author

Med Princ Pract 2006;15:266-269 (DOI: 10.1159/000092988)

Key Words

Hepatitis A virus
Hepatitis A vaccine
Kuwait

Abstract

Objective: To describe the epidemiology, clinical features and outcome of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in children in Kuwait. Subjects and Method: The medical records of 350 patients (age 0-16 years) admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait, between January 2000 and December 2002, with hepatitis A infection were reviewed. Results: The mean age was 8.6 ± 3.8 years and 47% of patients were between 7 and 12 years old. Kuwaiti children comprised 44% of admitted patients. The largest proportion of children with hepatitis A (34%) were from the northern part of the country. HAV infection was prevalent throughout the year with a peak during the months of August to October. Of the Kuwaiti children, 31% reported a history of contact with jaundiced patients, while 52% of the non-Kuwaiti children had a history of recent travel prior to their illness. Patients had symptoms for a mean of 6 ± 3.6 days prior to presentation. The mean length of hospitalization was 5.8 ± 2.9 days. The rate of complications of HAV infection was 6% and only one child required admission to the intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. None of the patients had permanent sequelae. Conclusions: HAV infection is a significant cause of morbidity for children in Kuwait. The disease is mostly prevalent in preschool and school age children. Despite the excellent outcome of all patients, a considerable number of patients tend to have a complicated course and prolonged hospitalization. In view of these data, hepatitis A vaccine should be considered as a part of routine childhood immunization in Kuwait.

Author Contacts

Dr. Entesar Husain
Department of Pediatrics, Al-Amiri Hospital
PO Box 4077
13041 Safat (Kuwait)
Tel./Fax +965 543 0207, E-Mail entesar@qualitynet.net

Article Information

This paper was presented in part at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), San Diego, Calif., USA, October 9-12, 2003 (abstract No. 582).

Received: July 17, 2005
Revised: October 25, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 4
Number of Figures : 3, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 15

Medline Abstract (ID 16763392)

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