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- Title
Hepatitis A Virus Infections in Urban Children—Are Preventive Opportunities Being Missed?
- Authors
Ochnio, Jan J.; Scheifele, David W.; Ho, Margaret
- 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.
- Publication
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1997, Vol 176, Issue 6, p1610
- ISSN
0022-1899
- Publication type
Article