Decrease in incidence of hepatitis a infections in Germany

Abstract

The hypothesis of a decline in the incidence of hepatitis A infections in Germany in recent decades was confirmed by determining the prevalence of hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV) in sera collected in 1965 and in 1975 under the same conditions in North Germany. The prevalence of anti-HAV correlated with the year of birth and was independent of the time of serum sampling. The force of infection fell from 0.04 in 1945 to 0.005 in 1965 as judged from a catalytic epidemic model with a sigmoidal decrease.

Hepatitis A Virus Infections in the United States: Model-Based Estimates and Implications for Childhood Immunization

“…Similar cohort effects have been noted in Germany 22 and Australia. 23 The steady 4.2% to 4.8% annual decline in HAV infection incidence is consistent with the observed logarithmic decline in infectious disease mortality rates in the United States throughout the 20th century.…”

Prevalence of hepatitis A antibodies in french recruits in 1985

“…18% fall) of hepatitis A antibodies prevalence in the 18-20 years group of age. This fall is lower than the 51 to 11% decline observed by Frosner et al (9) in older people (20-29 years) in Germany were environmental, socio-economic and hygienic conditions improved rapidly after World War' I!.…”

“…Moreover prevalence of anti hepatitis A virus (HAV) can vary and several european sero-epidemiologic studies have shown a decline during the last twenty years (2,9,14,20).…”

Age-specific antibody prevalence to hepatitis A in England: implications for disease control

“…A decline over time in the incidence of hepatitis A has been noted in the UK [1 1] and in other European countries [12,13]. Although the prevalence data from a single survey cannot distinguish between rising incidence with age and a decline in incidence over time, the observed pattern is most readily explained by a drop in incidence in the past.…”