Recent epidemiological and clinical features of acute hepatitis B in a single center of China

This study was to investigate the epidemiological and clinical features of acute hepatitis B.

A retrospective study of 177 acute hepatitis B patients with an average age of 36.03 years and range of 7-62 years was conducted from Jan 2005 to Feb 2011. The epidemiological and clinical parameters were investigated. The serological markers and biochemical tests were examined.

76.84% (n = 136) patients were icteric type, while 23.16% (n = 41) were non-icteric type. Other clinical manifestations for acute hepatitis patients included fatigue (82.49%), gastrointestinal symptoms (66.10%), yellowish discoloration of skin and sclera, fever (31.07%), rash 10 (5.65%), joint pain (2.82%) and headache (1.69%). One case presented with acute renal failure associated with acute hepatitis B. Nine cases suffered from fulminant hepatitis. After treatment, hepatic function was significantly improved (P < 0.05). For serological markers, 54 (30.51%) and 119 (67.23%) patients had HBsAg and HBV-DNA seroconversion respectively. Four deaths occurred due to the severe complications associated by acute infection of HBV during half a year period follow up.

Adult males with occupation of workers and farmers are the high-risk population of acute hepatitis B in China. Several complications associated with acute hepatitis B should be noticed.