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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on January 27, 2009
The European Journal of Public Health 2009 19(3):240-244; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckn145
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Infectious Diseases

Effect of Hepatitis A vaccination programs for migrant children on the incidence of Hepatitis A in the Netherlands

Anita W. M. Suijkerbuijk1, Robert Lindeboom2, Jim E. van Steenbergen3, Gerard J. B. Sonder4,5,6 and Yvonne Doorduyn1

1 Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Netherlands Centre for Infectious Disease Control, RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
2 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 Preparedness and Response Unit, Netherlands Centre for Infectious Disease Control, RIVM Bilthoven, The Netherlands
4 National Coordination Center for Travelers Health Advice, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5 Public Health Service, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6 Academic Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine and AIDS, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Correspondence: Anita Suijkerbuijk, Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, RIVM Bilthoven, The Netherlands, tel: +030 2743401, fax: +030 2744409, e-mail: awm.suijkerbuijk{at}rivm.nl

Received September 29, 2008 , accepted December 22, 2008

Background: Since 1998 Municipal Public Health Services (MPHSs) in the Netherlands carried out Hepatitis A (HAV) vaccination programs for Turkish and Moroccan children to reduce import and secondary HAV infections. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the programs on HAV incidence. Methods: MPHSs were questioned about HAV vaccination programs for migrant children. Notification data of HAV over the period 1995–2006 were analysed. Results: Since 1998, 19 MPHSs (58%) organized vaccination programs for Turkish and Moroccan children. A large variation in the range of activities in HAV vaccination programs was observed. In the Netherlands, HAV incidence declined, from 6.5 per 100 000 inhabitants in 1995 to 1.3 in 2005. HAV incidence in children of Turkish and Moroccan decent declined from 70.3 per 100 000 in 2000 to 13.5 per 100 000 in 2005. Regions where MPHSs organized vaccination campaigns had the steepest decline in HAV incidence. Conclusion: The decline in HAV incidence in the Netherlands coincided with that observed for the rest of Europe. Therefore, also other causes than the enhanced vaccination programs could have contributed to this effect. At present, low priority is placed on continuing these HAV vaccination programs, as in areas without enhanced programs the incidence also declined to very low levels. Because HAV is still endemic in Morocco and Turkey, it remains important that all travellers to these countries are vaccinated against HAV, regardless of their country of origin.

Keywords: Hepatitis A, vaccination, child, incidence, risk factors


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