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Abstract

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were notified of increasing acute hepatitis A (AHA) in June 2015. Serum and/or stool from AHA patients and sewage samples were tested for hepatitis A virus (HAV). We defined outbreak cases as AHA patients with illness onset after June 2015 and with an HAV sequence less than 0.5% different from that of the TA-15 outbreak strain. We analysed characteristics and food exposures between outbreak and non-outbreak cases between January 2014 (start of enhanced surveillance) and February 2016. From June 2015 to September 2017, there were 1,563 AHA patients with a median age of 31 years (interquartile range (IQR): 26–38); the male-to-female ratio was 8.8 and 585 (37%) had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. TA-15 was detected in 82% (852/1,033) of AHA patients, and 14% (74/540) of sewage samples tested since July 2015. Infection with the TA-15 strain was associated with having HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI), recent oral-anal sex and men who have sex with men (MSM). The Taiwan CDC implemented an HAV vaccine campaign starting from October 2016 where 62% (15,487/24,879) of people at risk were vaccinated against HAV. We recommend HAV vaccination for at-risk populations and continuous surveillance to monitor control measures.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.14.1800133
2019-04-04
2025-06-24
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.14.1800133
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Outbreak of hepatitis A virus infection in Taiwan, June 2015 to September 2017
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Wan-Chin+Chen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chen Wan-Chin</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Po-Hsun+Chiang&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chiang Po-Hsun</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Yu-Hsin+Liao&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Liao Yu-Hsin</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lin-Ching+Huang&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Huang Lin-Ching</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ying-Jung+Hsieh&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hsieh Ying-Jung</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Chu-Ming+Chiu&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chiu Chu-Ming</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Yi-Chun+Lo&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lo Yi-Chun</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Chin-Hui+Yang&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Yang Chin-Hui</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jyh-Yuan+Yang&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Yang Jyh-Yuan</a></span>. Outbreak of hepatitis A virus infection in Taiwan, June 2015 to September 2017. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2019;24(14):pii=1800133. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.14.1800133" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.14.1800133</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 14 Mar 2018;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 17 Sept 2018 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.14.1800133
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