Hepatitis A Vaccine

Jeong, Sook Hyang

Abstract

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a RNA virus classified within Picornaviridae family HAV vaccines containing formalin-inactivated virus produced in cell culture have been licensed in the early 1990s. HAV seroepidemiology in Korea is rapidly changing according to improvement of socioeconomical status. This epidemiologic shift is presented by growing numbers of hepatitis A cases among young adults, who are more symptomatic than children. Recently, about 70% of acute viral hepatitis in Korean adults are attributable to HAV. The seroprevalence of HAV among the young people in their teens and twenties is only about 10%, which suggests that a growing number of young adults are susceptible to HAV infection and development of more cases with severe presentation is expected in the near future. Therefore, active campaign for childhood HAV vaccination should be continued, and catch-up vaccination for the young population should be considered in Korea. Some preliminary data suggest the incidence rate of hepatitis A might be higher than 20/100,000 population, and routine childhood vaccination for HAV could be cost-effective in Korea. To provide reasonable recommendation for HAV vaccine, the continuous survey of HAV seroepidemiology and study on the cost-effectiveness of routine childhood vaccination are urgently warranted.