{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T13:57:21Z","timestamp":1781186241269,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781136000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Prevention and Control of Emerging and Major Infectious Disease-National Science and Technology Major Project","award":["2025ZD01905500"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025ZD01905500"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund","award":["2026A1515010711"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026A1515010711"]}]},{"name":"Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project","award":["2025A04J4146"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025A04J4146"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>People living with HIV (PLWH) represent a high-risk population for hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, with exposure risk equal to or higher than that of the general population, particularly within adult risk networks. Anti-HAV immunoglobulin G (IgG) serves as a neutralizing antibody and is considered a key marker of protective immunity against HAV infection. However, the serologic profile of anti-HAV IgG and IgM among unvaccinated PLWH remains insufficiently characterized, especially in South China. A total of 1232 unvaccinated adults were enrolled in the study, including 800 PLWH and 432 HIV- negative controls, to evaluate the serological markers of HAV immunity. Serum anti-HAV IgG and immunoglobulin M (IgM) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and demographic, immunological, and biochemical data were collected. We observed that PLWH had significantly lower anti-HAV IgG concentrations (0.27 \u00b1 0.16 vs. 0.31 \u00b1 0.14 ng\/mL, p &lt; 0.001) and a lower IgG seropositivity rate (22.5% vs. 35.6%, p &lt; 0.001) compared with HIV-negative controls, whereas no differences were found in IgM levels or positivity between the two groups. Multivariable logistic regression identified HIV infection (OR = 0.599, 95% CI 0.413\u20130.869, p = 0.007) and age (OR = 1.019, 95% CI 1.007\u20131.031, p = 0.002) as independent factors associated with IgG seropositivity. Among PLWH, those who were IgG-positive tended to be older (p = 0.003) and had higher serum globulin levels (p &lt; 0.001), whereas IgM positivity was linked to younger age (p &lt; 0.001) and a higher CD4\/CD8 ratio (p = 0.030). Age-stratified analyses further revealed that IgG seroprevalence increased with age, while IgM positivity showed a declining trend. These findings indicate a considerable immunity gap in a population at elevated risk of HAV infection and support the need for targeted serologic screening and vaccination strategies among PLWH.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed11060158","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T12:14:58Z","timestamp":1781180098000},"page":"158","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Reduced HAV IgG Seropositivity Among Unvaccinated People Living with HIV: The Weak Shield"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Huan","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sheng","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haotian","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinrui","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunlin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guangyu","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Disease, The Islands Healthcare Complex\u2014Macao Medical Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Macao SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aili","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuwen","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuyuan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First School of Clinical Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Tao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3765-9127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shaohang","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis Research, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Viral Hepatitis, Guangdong Institute of Hepatology, Guangzhou 510515, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"488","DOI":"10.1097\/QCO.0000000000000188","article-title":"Hepatitis A: Epidemiology in Resource-Poor Countries","volume":"28","author":"Aggarwal","year":"2015","journal-title":"Curr. 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