The etiology of acute viral hepatitis for the last 3 years

Background : In Korea, the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis used to be the hepatitis B virus, but now the etiology of acute viral hepatitis seems to be changing. We investigated the etiology of newly developed acute viral hepatitis for the last 3 years. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients, who visited Asan Medical Center for janudice during recent 3 years. Among them, one hundred eighty six patients were diagnosed as acute viral hepatitis by typical clinical feature and positive results in any one of the following tests : IgM anti-HAV, IgM anti-HBc, HCV PCR, and IgM anti-HEV. Results : The proportion of acute viral hepatitis A, B, C, and E were 49.5% (n=92), 45.2% (n=84), 3.8% (n=7), and 1.6% (n=3), respectively. The patient’s age of acute hepatitis A (29.11.75 years) was significantly younger than that of acute hepatitis B (38.23.07 years) (p0.001). There were 10 cases of fulminant hepatic failure, all of which were caused by hepatitis B virus. Of seven patients diagnosed as acute hepatitis C, three patients were treated with interferon-alpha and ribavirin, and all achieved sustained virologic response. Three patients, who were diagnosed as acute hepatitis E, recovered spontaneously. Conclusion : Nowadays, the most common causes of acute viral hepatitis in Korea are in the order of the hepatitis A virus and the hepatitis B virus. The most prevalent age of acute hepatitis A is the 20th, while acute hepatitis B is most common in the 30th. Although the acute hepatitis C and E seems to be rare, they do occur sporadically in Korea.