Hepatitis A seroprevalence in Tuscany, Italy

C Gentile; I Alberini; I Manini; S Rossi; E Montomoli; T Pozzi; C Rizzo; V Alfonsi

doi:10.2807/ese.14.10.19146-en

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Hepatitis A seroprevalence in Tuscany, Italy

C Gentile¹, I Alberini¹, I Manini¹, S Rossi¹, E Montomoli¹, T Pozzi¹, C Rizzo², V Alfonsi²
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Affiliations: ¹ University of Siena, Department of Physiopathology, Experimental Medicine and Public Health ² Istituto Superiore di Sanità, National Centre for Epidemiology Surveillance and Promotion of Health

Correspondence:
E Montomoli
montomoli unisi.it
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Citation style for this article: Gentile C, Alberini I, Manini I, Rossi S, Montomoli E, Pozzi T, Rizzo C, Alfonsi V. Hepatitis A seroprevalence in Tuscany, Italy. Euro Surveill. 2009;14(10):pii=19146. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.14.10.19146-en Received: 13 Jun 2008; Accepted:

Abstract

Information regarding the current seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) is useful for the control of HAV infections. The objective of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of anti-HAV antibodies among children (1-5 years old) and young adults (15-20 years old) in Tuscany, in central Italy. A total of 565 sera were collected in three years 1992, 1998 and 2004, equally distributed between the two age groups. The overal proportion of those that tested positive for anti-HAV antibodies was 8.3%. The proportion of immune children (1-5 years old) statistically significantly increased over the years. The percentage of immune subjects among 15-20-year-old young adults varied over the years, not showing a significant statistical trend, nevertheless our findings indicate that in a low endemicity area, adolescents and young adults are becoming increasingly susceptible to HAV infection. On-going monitoring of immunity to HAV is necessary for detecting trends over time.