Clusters of autochthonous hepatitis A cases in a low endemicity area
At the University Hospital of Besanc¸on (département of Doubs, France), an unusually high number of patients were hospitalized for hepatitis A during the 1999-2000 period, some of whom had not travelled abroad. This prompted us to conduct an investigation on a population basis and search for clusters of cases possibly related to local sources of contamination. Accordingly, case definition was restricted to autochthonous cases. During the 1999-2002 period, 45 autochthonous cases were classified as possibly originating from local environmental sources. A space-time scan statistic detected one most likely cluster (standardized incidence ratio 20.63, 95% confidence interval 10.6-37.1), consisting of 11 persons (of whom five children had attended the same swimming pool). It remained significant in a sensitivity analysis, strongly supporting the hypothesis of an environmental source of contamination. This study reveals the necessity of regular surveillance for hepatitis A and raises the issue of virological surveys of pool waters.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | S50 - Santé humaine, santé publique, hépatite, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_6349, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_11527, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3081, |
| Online Access: | http://agritrop.cirad.fr/548839/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/548839/1/document_548839.pdf |
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