Very low prevalence of anti-HAV in Japan: high potential for future outbreak

Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 6;9(1):1493. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37349-1.

Abstract

Since the early 21st century, almost all developed countries have had a very low hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) sero-prevalence profile, as sanitation conditions and health care facilities have been optimized to a universal standard. There has not been a report on anti-HAV prevalence among a large scale population in Japan since 2003. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the current HAV status among the general population in Hiroshima. From each age and sex specific group, a total of 1,200 samples were randomly selected from 7,682 stocked serum samples from residents' and employees' annual health check-ups during 2013-2015. Total anti-HAV was detected using Chemiluminescent Enzyme Immunoassay. The overall anti-HAV sero-prevalence was 16.8%. In both males and females, anti-HAV prevalence among individuals between 20-59 years of age was as low as 0.0-2.0%, whilst that among 70 s was as high as 70.0-71.0%. A large number of residents aged under 60 are now susceptible to HAV infection. The cohort reduction trend of anti-HAV in Japan exposes the high possibility of mass outbreak in the future. HAV vaccine especially to younger generation and high risk population may prevent outbreak in Japan.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Female
  • Hepatitis A / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis A Antibodies / analysis*
  • Hepatitis A Antibodies / immunology
  • Hepatitis A Virus, Human / immunology*
  • Hepatitis A virus / immunology
  • Hepatitis A virus / pathogenicity
  • Humans
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Serologic Tests / methods

Substances

  • Hepatitis A Antibodies