title: Hepatitis A virus infections in urban children--are preventive opportunities being missed?
abstract: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections in children in a large urban center, a point prevalence survey was conducted using a novel, ultrasensitive assay for HAV-specific IgG in saliva. A structured sample of 224 grade-six students (5.8% of grade registrants) was obtained from 23 schools throughout Vancouver. All students provided saliva samples adequate for testing. The anti-HAV prevalence rate was 7.1% (95% confidence interval, 4.1%-11.3%). Among 167 Canadian-born students, only 5 (3%) were positive, whereas among 57 students born elsewhere, 11 (19.3%) were positive (P < .001), with circumstances in the latter group supporting infection prior to emigration. No clustering of positive persons was evident. The cumulative risk of HAV infection in Canadian-born children was low through age 11-12 years even in less affluent parts of the city, speaking against a need for routine use of HAV vaccine in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Evaluation Center, British Columbia's Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ochnio
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Scheifele
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D017957:Hepatitis A Virus, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012306:Risk; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G