Seroepidemiology of hepatitis A among Greek children indicates that the virus is still prevalent: Implications for universal vaccination
✍ Scribed by A. Kyrka; A. Tragiannidis; D. Cassimos; K. Pantelaki; M. Tzoufi; M. Mavrokosta; X. Pedeli; F. Athanassiadou; A. Hatzimichael; A. Konstantopoulos; D. Kafetzis; V. Papaevangelou
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 80 KB
- Volume
- 81
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0146-6615
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
A national cross‐sectional seroprevalence survey was conducted in order to evaluate the current seroepidemiology of hepatitis A among 1,383 children, aged 0–14 years, residing in Greece. Stratification of the study population was conducted according to age and area of residence. Sera from study participants were tested for the presence of anti‐HAV IgG antibodies. Immigrant children, as well as children residing in rural areas, had lower immunization rates. Among unvaccinated children, the seroprevalence rate of anti‐HAV was 17.1%. Nationality was shown to have a marginally significant effect since non‐immunized immigrant children had a higher seroprevalence rate (22.4% vs. 15.9%, OR = 1.52, P = 0.064). Significant differences between geographic areas for both vaccination coverage and natural immunity were observed. The study findings indicate that hepatitis A is prevalent in Greece and therefore universal infant hepatitis A immunization should be implemented. J. Med. Virol. 81:582–587, 2009 © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.