Objective: Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) is one of the important factors of acute viral hepatitis that can be transmitted from person to person by direct contact or fecal-oral route. Although HAV seroprevalence varies in different sociodemographic layers, healthcare workers are in the risk group under all circumstances. The aim of this study is to conduct a five-year retrospective evaluation of HAV seropositivity in health trainees who were excluded in routine anti-HAV vaccination.

Methods: The HAV IgM and HAV IgG data of 733 students were included in the study. Serological rates with values below 1.0 Signal/Cut-off (S/CO) were considered ‘non-reactive’, the ones with S/CO values ≥1.0 were considered ‘reactive’. SPSS Ver.21 program was used in the statistical analysis of the data; the relationship between categorical variables was determined by the chi-square test and p<0.001 was considered significant.

Results: Anti-HAV IgM values were found to be negative in all students. The rate of seropositive students was 20% (n=147), while 2019 was found to be the year with the highest positivity rate (26.9%). The seropositivity rates of female and male students were 57.8% (85/147) and 42% (62/147), respectively, which indicated a significant increase for female sex (p<0.001). In conclusion, HAV seropositivity was found to be low in the present study. Healthcare professionals should be vaccinated against HAV infection, due to occupational exposure risks.