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An outbreak of hepatitis A among children and adults in Denmark, August 2002 to February 2003

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2005

A. GERVELMEYER
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Statens Serum Institut, Denmark European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training
M. SØBORG NIELSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Statens Serum Institut, Denmark
L. CHEMNITZ FREY
Affiliation:
Medical Office of Health, Ringkøbing County, Denmark
H. SCKERL
Affiliation:
Medical Office of Health, Ringkøbing County, Denmark
E. DAMBERG
Affiliation:
Medical Office of Health, Ringkøbing County, Denmark
K. MØLBAK
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Statens Serum Institut, Denmark
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Abstract

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From August 2002 to February 2003 25 cases of hepatitis A were notified from one town in Jutland. The first cases were children of three families who returned from an endemic country. The infection spread subsequently in the local community and within households. A case-control study among household index cases showed that hepatitis A was associated with contact to a case in an after-school group (OR 29·6) and with contact to a case household member in a school class or day-care centre group (OR 9·5). From a serosurvey it was estimated that for each notified patient approximately one additional infection has occurred in the households. The infection was imported by children of immigrants, born in Denmark, returning from a visit to friends and relatives in the high-incidence country of origin of their parents and was then propagated through contact between children in after-school groups, schools and their families. Immunoprophylaxis should be given to children prior to visits to friends and relatives in endemic countries and to case contacts.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press