Hepatitis A virus vaccination strategy and pre-immunization screening of Bangladeshi children.
Date
2015-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Background: HAV infection is endemic in many developing countries like India, Pakistan,
Nepal etc. Several seroprevalence studies show high rates of sero-positivity among children by
sub-clinical infection. Therefore mass vaccination against HAV has not been recommended in
endemic countries. Objective: To determine whether routine hepatitis A vaccination is indicated
for all Bangladeshi children & also to know whether pre-vaccination screening is necessary.
Materials & Methods: Serum samples from 254 children aged between 1-15 years were tested
for antibody (IgM & IgG) against hepatitis A virus (HAV) to determine the seroprevalence of
HAV antibody and do a cost-benefit analysis for decision making about vaccination against
HAV among the children of Bangladesh. Results: Hepatitis A virus antibody was positive in 141
(55.5%) of 254 children. Age-specific sero-prevalence was 13 (23.2%) of 56 in 1-3 year,64
(55.2%) of 116 in 3-5 year, 39 (70.9%) of 55 in 5-10 year & 25 (92.6%) of 27 in 10-15 year age
group. Cost benefit analysis showed that the total cost of screening followed by vaccination was
almost 1.8 times less than the total cost of vaccination of all children without screening.
Conclusions: Majority of the children were found sero-positive against HAV around 15 year of
age. Therefore mass vaccination against HAV may not be required for Bangladeshi children.
Description
Keywords
Hepatitis A virus (HAV), HAV seroprevalence, HAV vaccine
Citation
Mahmud S, Karim A S M B, Alam J, Islam M M Z, Sarker N K, Munshi A S, Sarker S. Hepatitis A virus vaccination strategy and pre-immunization screening of Bangladeshi children. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science. 2015; 14(1): 65-69.