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January 22, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Winning the War on Hepatitis A"

Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com) (01/19/03) P. 1; Gottleib, Jeff

Health officials credit vaccinations for the drop in hepatitis A cases in children in Southern California and other parts of the West.  Statistics show the most notable decrease of hepatitis A cases has occurred in the Hispanic community, a group whose infection rate was so high that researchers declared that the problem had reached epidemic levels. Although children are not required to be inoculated against hepatitis A before they attend school, pediatricians and clinics usually include it along with the string of mandatory inoculations for polio, measles, and diphtheria.  Researchers found that cases of hepatitis A among Hispanics 18 years of age and under in Orange County declined 91 percent between 2000 to 2002, from 107 to 10 cases.  The infection rate was also lower in Hispanics 14 years of age and under in Los Angeles County, where cases fell 69 percent from 1999 to 2001, from 368 cases to 114.  In 2002, the number of cases reported dropped further to 52, according to preliminary data from Los Angeles County.

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