Document Type
Article
Publication Title
International Journal of Epidemiology
Abstract
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection confers long-term immunity, so mathematical analysis of age-specific seroprevalence in populations can reveal changes in the infection rate over time. HAV transmission is related to access to clean drinking water, personal hygiene and public sanitation. Methods: We used an SIR (susceptible-infectious-recovered) compartmental model with age structure to fit a time-dependent logistic function for HAV force of infection for 157 published age-seroprevalence data sets. We then fit linear regression models for socioeconomic variables and infection rate. Results: The proportion of the population with access to clean drinking water, the value of the human development index (HDI), and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) are all inverse predictors of HAV infection rates. Declining infection rates were observed in 65.6% of the surveys. Discussion: This work demonstrates the utility of HAV seroprevalence studies to reveal patterns of change in force of infection and to assess the association between socioeconomic risk factors and transmission rates.
First Page
600
Last Page
609
DOI
10.1093/ije/dyi062
Publication Date
6-1-2005
Recommended Citation
Jacobsen, Kathryn H. and Koopman, James S., "The effects of socioeconomic development on worldwide hepatitis A virus seroprevalence patterns" (2005). University Faculty Publications and Creative Works. 499.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/calvin_facultypubs/499