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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 97, No. 2, 2002, pp. 301-305
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Bioline Code: oc02058
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 97, No. 2, 2002, pp. 301-305
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Hepatitis A Outbreak in a Public School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Livia Melo Villar; Maria do Carmo Esteves da Costa; Vanessa Salete de Paula & Ana Maria Coimbra Gaspar
Abstract
From June 1 to July 1 1999, an outbreak involving 25 cases of hepatitis A occurred in a public school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since these cases were notified to the State Health Department, the National Reference Center for Hepatitis Viruses (CNRHV) was required to investigate the extent of hepatitis A virus (HAV) dissemination. Blood samples from all students were tested for IgM and total anti-HAV antibodies using a commercial enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). At the same time, a questionnaire was completed in order to identify possible risk factors for HAV infection. The environmental investigation showed that there was no fecal contamination of the water supply. The epidemiological investigation demonstrated that almost 50% of this population was susceptible to HAV infection and probably person-to-person transmission was the principal mode of virus dissemination. In this situation, a massive vaccination campaign could control the HAV infection.
Keywords
hepatitis A virus - outbreak - seroepidemiology - public school - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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