In the United States, an average of 26,000 hepatitis A cases were reported annually to public health agencies during the 1980s and 1990s, representing an estimated 270,000 infections per year when anicteric (without jaundice) disease and asymptomatic infections are taken into account, according to background information in the article. More than half of the estimated infections occurred among children. In 1995, highly effective hepatitis A vaccines became available in the United States for use among persons aged 2 years or older, providing an opportunity to substantially reduce hepatitis A incidence. In 1996 the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended targeted hepatitis A vaccination of selected high-risk populations and routine vaccination for children living in communities with the highest hepatitis A rates. In 1999, this committee expanded its recommendations for routine vaccination of children to include children living in 17 states that had consistently elevated hepatitis A rates and a distinctive pattern of hepatitis A epidemiology.

Annemarie Wasley, Sc.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from a national hepatitis A surveillance to determine changes in the incidence and epidemiology of hepatitis A in the United States since 1990 and following implementation of recommendations for hepatitis A vaccination.

The researchers found that between the baseline period (1990-1997) and 2003, overall hepatitis A rates declined 76 percent to 2.6 per 100,000, significantly lower than previous lows in 1983 (9.2/100,000) and 1992 (9.1/100,000). The rate of hepatitis A in vaccinating states declined 88 percent to 2.5 per 100,000 compared with 53 percent elsewhere (to 2
'"/>

Contact: Von Roebuck
404-639-7284
JAMA and Archives Journals
12-Jul-2005