Last data update: Jul 01, 2024. (Total: 47134 publications since 2009)
Records 1-1 (of 1 Records) |
Query Trace: Angelo DoKm [original query] |
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Acute hepatitis A in international travelers: A GeoSentinel analysis, 2008-2020
Balogun O , Brown A , Angelo DoKm , Hochberg NS , Barnett ED , Nicolini LA , Asgeirsson H , Grobusch MP , Leder K , Salvador F , Chen L , Odolini S , Daz-Menndez M , Gobbi F , Connor BA , Libman M , Hamer DH . J Travel Med 2022 29 (2) BACKGROUND: Non-immune international travelers are at risk of acquiring hepatitis A. Although hepatitis A vaccination is recommended for unvaccinated travelers to high or intermediate hepatitis A virus endemicity, compliance with this recommendation is not universal. OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic and travel characteristics of international travelers infected with hepatitis A during travel. METHODS: Available data on travelers with confirmed (positive molecular test) or probable (symptomatic individuals with a single positive IgM test) hepatitis A diagnosed during and after travel from January 2008 to December 2020 were obtained from the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network database. We analyzed demographic and travel characteristics of infected travelers. RESULTS: Among 254 travelers with hepatitis A (185 confirmed and 69 probable), the median age was 28years (interquartile range: 19-40), 150 (59%) were male, and among 54 travelers with information available, 53 (98%) were unvaccinated. The most common reasons for travel included tourism (n=120; 47%) and visiting friends or relatives (VFR) (n=72; 28%). About two-thirds of VFR travelers with hepatitis A (n=50; 69%) were younger than 20years old. Hepatitis A was acquired most frequently in South-Central Asia (n=63; 25%) and sub-Saharan Africa (n=61; 24%), but 16 travelers (6%) acquired hepatitis A in regions with low endemicity including Western Europe (n=7; 3%), the Caribbean (n=6; 2%), and North America (n=3; 1%). Median duration from illness onset to GeoSentinel site presentation was approximately 7days (IQR: 4-14days). Among 88 travelers with information available, 59% were hospitalized. CONCLUSION: Despite availability of highly effective vaccines, travelers still acquire hepatitis A, even when traveling to low-endemicity destinations. Providing pre-departure hepatitis A vaccine to susceptible travelers is crucial to reducing travel-associated hepatitis A and should be offered to all travelers as part of the pre-travel consultation, regardless of destination. |
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