Determinants of hepatitis A infection among students: A case study of an outbreak in Jember, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis A often occurs in school among students in the form of an outbreak. The transmission was through fecal-oral (common source) provided that the epidemic curve is close to propagate. The aim of the current study was to analyze the determinants of Hepatitis A infection among students.Design and methods: This study was a case-control study which was conducted at SMAN Plus with a sample size of 80 students chosen by using simple random sampling. The data obtained were then analyzed using logistic regression with 95% confidence level (α = 0.05), while the strength of the relationship between variables was identified using odds ratio (OR).Results: Most of the students were at the age of 17 to 19 years old (65%) and male (57.5%). The average age in the case group was 17.1 years old, while in the control group was 16.75 years old. The habit of consuming raw foods (p=0.001) as well as eating and drink at the same time during an activity (p=0.000) had a significant influence on the outbreak of Hepatitis A in the curve epidemic of common source.Conclusions: The outbreak is confirmed as transmission occurs through fecal-oral which the common source epidemic curve. Risk factors that have been proven to be related to hepatitis A include consuming raw food, eating shared meals during an activity, and drinking with shared drinking utensils.