Risk of hepatitis A in travellers.
A review of the literature shows that 30-35 million travellers from industrialized nations annually visit a developing country where their incidence rate of symptomatic hepatitis A is 3 to 6 per 1000 per month of stay if they remain unprotected. The risk is 20 per 1000 for persons eating and drinking under poor hygienic conditions. Thus hepatitis A is now the most frequent vaccine-preventable disease in such travellers. Antibodies to hepatitis A virus are rarely found in potential travellers in many industrialized countries, except in those born before 1944, in those with a history of jaundice, or in those with a stay > 1 year in a developing country.
Steffen
R
R
Division of Epidemiology and Prevention of Communicable Diseases, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University, Zurich, Switzerland.
D003906:Developing Countries; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006507:Hepatovirus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014195:Travel
D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies