For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
14
views
27
references
 Top references
cited by
13
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      169
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Hepatitis A virus in West Africa: Is an epidemiological transition beginning?

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background:

          Studies of hepatitis A virus (HAV) seroprevalence in sub-Saharan Africa have generally found very high anti-HAV IgG seroprevalence rates, but economic development and improved drinking water access may be contributing to decreasing incidence.

          Materials and Methods:

          This review evaluates all 19 articles that have been published on HAV epidemiology in West Africa.

          Results:

          Nearly all studies conducted before 1990 found that the majority of preschool-aged children had already developed immunity due to prior infection. However, several recent studies have observed that the age at midpoint of population immunity in some urban populations has shifted to school-aged children.

          Conclusion:

          There is preliminary evidence that some West-African countries are beginning the transition towards lower hepatitis A endemicity levels. Additional studies of child seroprevalence rates in diverse parts of West Africa are required in order to clarify the extent to which an early transition may be occurring.

          Related collections

          Most cited references27

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Hepatitis A virus seroprevalence by age and world region, 1990 and 2005.

          Kathryn H Jacobsen, Steven Wiersma (2010)
          To estimate current age-specific rates of immunity to hepatitis A virus (HAV) in world regions by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data. The estimation of the global burden of hepatitis A and policies for public health control are dependent on an understanding of the changing epidemiology of this viral infection. Age-specific IgG anti-HAV seroprevalence data from more than 500 published articles were pooled and used to fit estimated age-seroprevalence curves in 1990 and 2005 for each of 21 world regions (as defined by the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study). High-income regions (Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore) have very low HAV endemicity levels and a high proportion of susceptible adults, low-income regions (sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia) have high endemicity levels and almost no susceptible adolescents and adults, and most middle-income regions have a mix of intermediate and low endemicity levels. Anti-HAV prevalence estimates in this analysis suggest that middle-income regions in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East currently have an intermediate or low level of endemicity. The countries in these regions may have an increasing burden of disease from hepatitis A, and may benefit from new or expanded vaccination programs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
          Article 0 comments Cited 157 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Hepatitis A: old and new.

            Bonnie J. Cuthbert (2000)
            The hepatitis A virus (HAV), a picornavirus, is a common cause of hepatitis worldwide. Spread of infection is generally person to person or by oral intake after fecal contamination of skin or mucous membranes; less commonly, there is fecal contamination of food or water. Hepatitis A is endemic in developing countries, and most residents are exposed in childhood. In contrast, the adult population in developed countries demonstrates falling rates of exposure with improvements in hygiene and sanitation. The export of food that cannot be sterilized, from countries of high endemicity to areas with low rates of infection, is a potentially important source of infection. After ingestion and uptake from the gastrointestinal tract, the virus replicates in the liver and is excreted into the bile. Cellular immune responses to the virus lead to destruction of infected hepatocytes with consequent development of symptoms and signs of disease. Humoral immune responses are the basis for diagnostic serologic assays. Acute HAV infection is clinically indistinguishable from other causes of acute viral hepatitis. In young children the disease is often asymptomatic, whereas in older children and adults there may be a range of clinical manifestations from mild, anicteric infection to fulminant hepatic failure. Clinical variants include prolonged, relapsing, and cholestatic forms. Management of the acute illness is supportive, and complete recovery without sequelae is the usual outcome. Research efforts during World War II led to the development of passive immunoprophylaxis. Pooled immune serum globulin is efficacious in the prevention and attenuation of disease in exposed individuals. More recently, active immunoprophylaxis by vaccination has been accomplished. Future eradication of this disease can now be contemplated.
            Article 0 comments Cited 95 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: found
              Is Open Access

              Challenges to mapping the health risk of hepatitis A virus infection

              Khayriyyah Mohd Hanafiah, Kathryn H Jacobsen, Steven Wiersma (2011)
              Background World maps are among the most effective ways to convey public health messages such as recommended vaccinations, but creating a useful and valid map requires careful deliberation. The changing epidemiology of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in many world regions heightens the need for up-to-date risk maps. HAV infection is usually asymptomatic in children, so low-income areas with high incidence rates usually have a low burden of disease. In higher-income areas, many adults remain susceptible to the virus and, if infected, often experience severe disease. Results Several challenges associated with presenting hepatitis A risk using maps were identified, including the need to decide whether prior infection or continued susceptibility more aptly indicates risk, whether to display incidence or prevalence, how to distinguish between different levels of risk, how to display changes in risk over time, how to present complex information to target audiences, and how to handle missing or obsolete data. Conclusion For future maps to be comparable across place and time, we propose the use of the age at midpoint of population susceptibility as a standard indicator for the level of hepatitis A endemicity within a world region. We also call for the creation of an accessible active database for population-based age-specific HAV seroprevalence and incidence studies. Health risk maps for other conditions with rapidly changing epidemiology would benefit from similar strategies.
              Article 0 comments Cited 35 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Niger Med J
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Niger Med J
                Journal ID (publisher-id): NMJ
                Title: Nigerian Medical Journal : Journal of the Nigeria Medical Association
                Publisher: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )
                ISSN (Print): 0300-1652
                ISSN (Electronic): 2229-774X
                Publication date (Print): Jul-Aug 2014
                Volume: 55
                Issue: 4
                Pages: 279-284
                Affiliations
                [1]Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, Virginia, USA
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Dr. Kathryn H. Jacobsen, Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive MS 5B7, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA. E-mail: kjacobse@ 123456gmu.edu
                Article
                Publisher ID: NMJ-55-279
                DOI: 10.4103/0300-1652.137185
                PMC ID: 4124538
                SO-VID: 9f7eee13-63ab-4560-bdfb-6bfc12140ab2
                Copyright © Copyright: © Nigerian Medical Journal
                License:

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Categories
                Subject: Original Article

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine
                Keywords: hepatitis a,hepatitis a virus,health transition,prevalence,seroprevalence,west africa
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Medicine
                Keywords: hepatitis a, hepatitis a virus, health transition, prevalence, seroprevalence, west africa

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content169

                See all similar

                Cited by13

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors190

                See all reference authors