Seroepidemiological study of hepatitis A in greek children aged 0 - 14 years

Hepatitis A is a disease endemic in many areas of the world.Greece is considered a country of intermediate endemicity, but recentdata were lacking. A national cross-sectional seroprevalence surveywas conducted in order to evaluate the current seroepidemiology ofhepatitis A among 1,383 children, aged 0–14 years, residing inGreece. The collection of the sera was done using the ESSEN IImethodology.Stratification of the study population was conducted according toage and area of residence. Sera from study participants were testedfor the presence of anti-HAV IgG antibodies (AXSYM, AbbottLaboratories).The results of the study showed that, among children aged olderthan 24 months, 38% were immunized for hepatitis A. Immigrantchildren, as well as children residing in rural areas, had lowerimmunization rates. Among unvaccinated children, theseroprevalence rate of anti-HAV was 17.1%. Nationality was shownto have a marginally significant effect since nonimmunized immigrantchildren had a higher seroprevalence rate (22.4% vs. 15.9%, OR=1.52, P=0.064). Significant differences between geographic areas forboth vaccination coverage and natural immunity were observed.The study findings indicate that hepatitis A is prevalent in Greeceand therefore universal infant hepatitis A immunization should beimplemented. Based on the above results, the National AdvisoryCommittee for Immunization concluded that, the hepatitis A vaccineshould to be included in the NIP as of January 2008