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ไวรั สตั บอั กเสบในแรงงานต่างด้าวในประเทศไทย The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 37 No. 1 Jan.-Mar. 2012 160 Abstract Hepatitis in Migrant Workers in Thailand Yong Poovorawan, Associate Fellow of the Academy of Science, The Royal Institute, Thailand Pattaratida Sa-nguanmoo, Kittiyod Poovorawan, Srunthron Akkarathamrongsin Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Hepatitis is a major public health problem worldwide. There have been a significant number of researches and international publications on the prevalence and molecular characterization of hepatitis A, B and C. In contrast, studies on the prevalence of the hepatitis viruses in migrant workers who are employed and residing in several regions of Thailand are limited. These immigrant workers play a crucial role in economic de- velopments of Thailand by providing their invaluable workforces; however they can spread various transmitted diseases including hepatitis to Thai people. Several previous studies have shown that migrant workers virtually have positive serology for hepatitis A. A report has demonstrated a high prevalence of hepatitis B carrier rates of 9.8%, 10.8% and 6.9% among Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos immigrant workers, respec- tively and is higher than that of general Thai population. The prevalence of hepatitis C among Myanmar and Cambodia workers was 1.8% and 2.3%, respectively and was comparable with general Thai population. Although the infection by viral hepatitis A and B has been well under controlled in Thailand, migrant workers from countries with high prevalence of viral hepatitis may cause the re-emergence of viral hepatitis. Key words: Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Migrant workers