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A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area

Background: Italy is considered an area with very low HAV (hepatitis A virus) endemicity. Currently in Italy the anti-HAV vaccine is recommended only for specific risk groups and there is no universal vaccination program. The aim of this study was to assess the level of immunity against hepatitis A...

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Autores principales: Zanella, Beatrice, Boccalini, Sara, Biamonte, Massimiliano Alberto, Giorgetti, Duccio, Menicacci, Marco, Bonito, Benedetta, Ninci, Alessandra, Tiscione, Emilia, Puggelli, Francesco, Mereu, Giovanna, Bonanni, Paolo, Bechini, Angela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538179/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34696301
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101194
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author Zanella, Beatrice
Boccalini, Sara
Biamonte, Massimiliano Alberto
Giorgetti, Duccio
Menicacci, Marco
Bonito, Benedetta
Ninci, Alessandra
Tiscione, Emilia
Puggelli, Francesco
Mereu, Giovanna
Bonanni, Paolo
Bechini, Angela
author_facet Zanella, Beatrice
Boccalini, Sara
Biamonte, Massimiliano Alberto
Giorgetti, Duccio
Menicacci, Marco
Bonito, Benedetta
Ninci, Alessandra
Tiscione, Emilia
Puggelli, Francesco
Mereu, Giovanna
Bonanni, Paolo
Bechini, Angela
author_sort Zanella, Beatrice
collection PubMed
description Background: Italy is considered an area with very low HAV (hepatitis A virus) endemicity. Currently in Italy the anti-HAV vaccine is recommended only for specific risk groups and there is no universal vaccination program. The aim of this study was to assess the level of immunity against hepatitis A in a sample of children and adolescents from the province of Florence. Methods: A total of 165 sera were collected from subjects aged 1 to 18 years, proportionally selected according to the general population size and stratified by age and sex. A qualitative evaluation of anti-HAV antibodies was performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anamnestic and vaccination status data were also collected. Results: Our study showed a hepatitis A seroprevalence of 9.1% in the enrolled population. A statistically significant difference in the prevalence of anti-HAV was found between Italian and non-Italian subjects. About half of the population having anti-HAV antibodies was reported to be vaccinated, and no cases of hepatitis A were found. Conclusions: The data from our study confirmed Tuscany as an area with low HAV endemicity and showed that hepatitis A seroprevalence is significantly higher in foreign children and adolescents. The presence of more seropositive subjects than those vaccinated was probably due to a natural immunization achieved through a subclinical infection and/or to underreporting of the surveillance systems.
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spelling pubmed-85381792021-10-24 A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area Zanella, Beatrice Boccalini, Sara Biamonte, Massimiliano Alberto Giorgetti, Duccio Menicacci, Marco Bonito, Benedetta Ninci, Alessandra Tiscione, Emilia Puggelli, Francesco Mereu, Giovanna Bonanni, Paolo Bechini, Angela Vaccines (Basel) Article Background: Italy is considered an area with very low HAV (hepatitis A virus) endemicity. Currently in Italy the anti-HAV vaccine is recommended only for specific risk groups and there is no universal vaccination program. The aim of this study was to assess the level of immunity against hepatitis A in a sample of children and adolescents from the province of Florence. Methods: A total of 165 sera were collected from subjects aged 1 to 18 years, proportionally selected according to the general population size and stratified by age and sex. A qualitative evaluation of anti-HAV antibodies was performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anamnestic and vaccination status data were also collected. Results: Our study showed a hepatitis A seroprevalence of 9.1% in the enrolled population. A statistically significant difference in the prevalence of anti-HAV was found between Italian and non-Italian subjects. About half of the population having anti-HAV antibodies was reported to be vaccinated, and no cases of hepatitis A were found. Conclusions: The data from our study confirmed Tuscany as an area with low HAV endemicity and showed that hepatitis A seroprevalence is significantly higher in foreign children and adolescents. The presence of more seropositive subjects than those vaccinated was probably due to a natural immunization achieved through a subclinical infection and/or to underreporting of the surveillance systems. MDPI 2021-10-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8538179/ /pubmed/34696301 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101194 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Zanella, Beatrice
Boccalini, Sara
Biamonte, Massimiliano Alberto
Giorgetti, Duccio
Menicacci, Marco
Bonito, Benedetta
Ninci, Alessandra
Tiscione, Emilia
Puggelli, Francesco
Mereu, Giovanna
Bonanni, Paolo
Bechini, Angela
A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title_full A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title_fullStr A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title_full_unstemmed A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title_short A Study of Hepatitis A Seroprevalence in a Paediatric and Adolescent Population of the Province of Florence (Italy) in the Period 2017–2018 Confirms Tuscany a Low Endemic Area
title_sort study of hepatitis a seroprevalence in a paediatric and adolescent population of the province of florence (italy) in the period 2017–2018 confirms tuscany a low endemic area
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8538179/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34696301
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101194
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