title: The role of young children in a community-wide outbreak of hepatitis A.
abstract: An Hasidic Jewish community has experienced recurrent hepatitis A outbreaks since 1980. To assess risk factors for illness during a 1985-6 outbreak, the authors reviewed case records and randomly selected 93 households for an interview and serologic survey. In the outbreak, 117 cases of hepatitis A were identified, with the highest attack rate (4.2%) among 3-5 year olds. Among the survey households, the presence of 3-5 year olds was the only risk factor that increased a household's risk of hepatitis A (indeterminant relative risk, P = 0.02). Furthermore, case households from the outbreak were more likely to have 3-5 years olds than were control households from the survey (odds ratio = 16.4, P < 0.001). Children 3-5 years old were more likely to have hepatitis A and may have been the most frequent transmitters of hepatitis A in this community. Hepatitis A vaccination of 3-5 year olds can protect this age group and might prevent future outbreaks in the community.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, Albany, USA.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grabau
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Werzberger
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rolka
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Kondracki
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Gallo
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Morse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors