TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute Hepatitis A
T2 - An endangered species
AU - Sjogren, Maria H.
PY - 1993/3
Y1 - 1993/3
N2 - Background: Although inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is known to be well tolerated and immunogenic in healthy children and adults, its efficacy has yet to be established. Methods: To evaluate the efficacy of the hepatitis A vaccine in protecting against clinically apparent disease, we conducted a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial in a Hasidic Jewish community in upstate New York that has bad recurrent outbreaks of hepatitis A. At the beginning of a summer outbreak, 1037 healthy seronegative children 2 to 16 years of age were randomly assigned to receive one intramuscular injection of a highly purified, formalin‐inactivated hepatitis A vaccine or placebo. A case was defined by the presence of typical signs and symptoms, a diagnostic increase in IgM antibody to hepatitis A, and a serum concentration of alanine aminotransferase at cast twice the upper limit of normal. Cases occurring ≥ 50 days after the injection were included in the evaluation of efficacy. The children were followed for a mean of 103 days. Results: A total of 519 children received vaccine, and 518 received placebo. The vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse reactions. From day 50 after the injection, 25 cases of clinically apparent hepatitis A occurred in the placebo group and none in the vaccine group (P < 0.001), confirming that the vaccine had 100 percent protective efficacy. Before day 21, seven cases occurred in the vaccine group and three cases in the placebo group. After that time, there were no cases among vaccine recipients and 34 cases among placebo recipients. Conclusions: The inactivated purified hepatitis A vaccine that we tested is well tolerated, and a single dose is highly protective against clinically apparent hepatitis A.
AB - Background: Although inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is known to be well tolerated and immunogenic in healthy children and adults, its efficacy has yet to be established. Methods: To evaluate the efficacy of the hepatitis A vaccine in protecting against clinically apparent disease, we conducted a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial in a Hasidic Jewish community in upstate New York that has bad recurrent outbreaks of hepatitis A. At the beginning of a summer outbreak, 1037 healthy seronegative children 2 to 16 years of age were randomly assigned to receive one intramuscular injection of a highly purified, formalin‐inactivated hepatitis A vaccine or placebo. A case was defined by the presence of typical signs and symptoms, a diagnostic increase in IgM antibody to hepatitis A, and a serum concentration of alanine aminotransferase at cast twice the upper limit of normal. Cases occurring ≥ 50 days after the injection were included in the evaluation of efficacy. The children were followed for a mean of 103 days. Results: A total of 519 children received vaccine, and 518 received placebo. The vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse reactions. From day 50 after the injection, 25 cases of clinically apparent hepatitis A occurred in the placebo group and none in the vaccine group (P < 0.001), confirming that the vaccine had 100 percent protective efficacy. Before day 21, seven cases occurred in the vaccine group and three cases in the placebo group. After that time, there were no cases among vaccine recipients and 34 cases among placebo recipients. Conclusions: The inactivated purified hepatitis A vaccine that we tested is well tolerated, and a single dose is highly protective against clinically apparent hepatitis A.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0027412589&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/hep.1840170325
DO - 10.1002/hep.1840170325
M3 - Article
C2 - 8444426
AN - SCOPUS:0027412589
SN - 0270-9139
VL - 17
SP - 519
EP - 520
JO - Hepatology
JF - Hepatology
IS - 3
ER -