Hepatitis A control in a refugee camp by active immunization.
An outbreak of hepatitis A occurred among children of a refugee camp in Croatia. In order to disrupt the outbreak, we decided to vaccinate children from 1 to 15 years of age in the camp, in addition to intensified general preventive measures. Assuming high prevalence of hepatitis A virus antibodies within this population, we conducted anti-HAV testing of the children eligible for vaccination. Of 108 children tested, 74 (68.5%) were anti-HAV positive. We vaccinated 34 children. One month after vaccination 31 previously negative children were tested for anti-HAV and 30 of them were found positive, suggesting a seroconversion rate of 96.8%. One child fell ill 5 days after vaccination, after whom no new cases of hepatitis A occurred. Thus we conclude that active immunization is a successful means of stopping an outbreak of hepatitis A.
Kaic
B
B
Department of Epidemiology, Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Rockefellerova 7, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia. berislav.borcic@zg.tel.hr
Borcic
B
B
Ljubicic
M
M
Brkic
I
I
Mihaljevic
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017957:Hepatitis A Virus, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D012036:Refugees
D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines