An outbreak of foodborne hepatitis A in a factory: a possible shift in age of patients in Japan

Global outbreaks of foodborne hepatitis A: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) is a significant threat in terms of food safety. A systematic literature search with the research question "What are the clinical outcomes of foodborne Hepatitis A virus infections?" was conducted. The pooled estimate of the outcomes-mortality, hospitalization, and severity rates, along with a 95% confidence interval (CI), was estimated. After screening, 33 studies were included for the data extraction and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of hospitalization among the HAV-positive patients was estimated to be 32% (95% CI 21-44), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 98%, p < 0.01). Australia had the highest hospitalization rate, with 82%, followed by Europe (42%). The hospitalization rate showed a significantly increasing trend (beta = 0.015, p=0.002) over the period. The pooled prevalence of mortality among the HAV-positive patients was estimated to be <1%, with low heterogeneity (I2 = 5%, p = 0.39). A wide range of food products were linked with the HAV outbreaks.

An outbreak of hepatitis A in a day-care center: immunoprophylaxis with human immunoglobulin

BACKGROUND

An outbreak of seven cases of hepatitis A (HA) occurred in a day-care center. Five of the cases were children attending the center, one was a nurse and one was the mother of a child. It is probable that the first case with HA was a male child infected by an unknown source.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Human immunoglobulin (HIG) was administered to both children and staff at the center following which there were no new cases of infection among in-center contacts. However, a new case of HA among household contacts developed 3 weeks following the treatment of in-center contacts.

CONCLUSIONS

The outbreak may have been prevented if the sibling (case 2) of the source case of infection (case 1) had been given HIG as soon as infection had been confirmed. Additionally, the data suggest that HIG for prevention of HA should be given not only to children but also to their parents.

Safety, immunogenicity, and kinetics of the immune response to a single dose of virosome-formulated hepatitis A vaccine in Thais

The safety and immunogenicity of a single dose of virosome-formulated hepatitis A vaccine was evaluated in healthy seronegative Thai volunteers. Immunization elicited primarily mild transient reactions which did not interfere with normal activities. All subjects possessed > 20 mIU of anti-hepatitis A virus antibody per ml of serum one month after immunization. Such a prolonged rise in antibody titre is characteristic of virosome-formulated vaccines. Protective titres (> 20 mIU ml-1) were maintained by all subjects over the one-year observation period.