[Prevalence of hepatitis A markers in families of patients treated at home and in hospitals].

The data on the time-course examinations of 119 family members of 59 adult patients with hepatitis A (HA) treated at home in Moscow and 170 relatives of 82 HA patients admitted to an infectious hospital are presented. The diagnosis for all the patients was verified by the detection in their blood of antibodies to hepatitis A virus (HAV) of the IgM class. Clinical methods of examination were used as well as determinations of anti-HAV of the IgG and IgM classes by enzyme immunoassay. When a case of HA was detected, the number of subjects susceptible to HAV in the families of the patients was insignificant (24-25%). The recorded cases of HA in adults in 60-70% were due to spread of the infection in the family; the sources of their infection were mostly children in whom this disease was frequently without jaundice and remained unrecognized. The incidence of infection of family members of HA patients treated at home or in hospitals was similar (10% and 9.5%, respectively) which proves the lack of epidemiological indications for mandatory hospitalization of such patients.