As World Hepatitis Day on July 28 is approaching, the 'Seminar on Hepatitis A Prevention and Control Challenges and Progress' hosted by the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association was held in Qingdao on July 23.
Many experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and provincial and municipal centers for disease control and prevention attended the meeting.
Several participating experts reminded: After the hepatitis A vaccine was included in the immunization program in China, the hepatitis A infection in children has been alleviated, but at the same time, the hepatitis A antibody level of adults in some age groups is at a low level, and there is a risk of hepatitis A outbreak. It is suggested that attention should be paid to hepatitis A vaccination for adults and high-risk groups.
Viral hepatitis A (hepatitis A for short) is an acute gastrointestinal infectious disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. Hepatitis A virus is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, either by eating food contaminated with hepatitis A virus or drinking contaminated water, or by direct contact with an infected person.
Hepatitis A infection is closely related to the standard of living hygiene and the availability of pure drinking water. Typical clinical symptoms of hepatitis A include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea.
In 1988, Shanghai had the most single-infected hepatitis A outbreak. From January 1 to May 13 of that year, there were 310,746 cases of hepatitis in Shanghai, and 31 cases died directly from hepatitis.
According to data from the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD)
In 2019, there were 160 million new cases of hepatitis A worldwide, resulting in about 39,300 deaths.
Among the major acute viral hepatitis in the world, the disease burden of hepatitis A is the heaviest. In 2008, my country has incorporated hepatitis A vaccine into the immunization program, and the prevalence and spread of hepatitis A have been effectively controlled.
However, there are still small-scale outbreaks, reminding us that the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis in 2030 put forward by the World Health Organization is still a long way to go, and we need to strengthen monitoring and increase the hepatitis A vaccination rate of key populations.
According to relevant information released by the World Health Organization, 33 countries around the world have incorporated hepatitis A vaccine into their immunization programs, and 41 countries have carried out vaccinations for high-risk groups.
The latest WHO position paper recommends that children receive their first dose of inactivated hepatitis A vaccine at 12 months of age. The World Health Organization also recommends two doses of vaccination for adults over the age of 40 or those who are immunocompromised.
Wang Fuzhen, Director of the Vaccine-Preventable Virus Ward of the Immunization Planning Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that countries and regions with low to medium prevalence of hepatitis A are currently facing the problem of a high proportion of hepatitis A susceptible population, but they can still improve group immunity by inoculating hepatitis A vaccine.
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The vaccines developed by SINOVAC mainly include vaccines against common infectious diseases such as viral hepatitis, influenza, pneumonia, polio, chickenpox, and mumps, as well as vaccines against emerging and sudden infectious diseases such as SARS, H5N1 avian influenza, H1N1 influenza, EV71 hand, foot and mouth disease, and new coronavirus infection.
The company's existing 4 vaccines have passed the pre-certification of the World Health Organization (inactivated hepatitis A vaccine, inactivated polio vaccine of Sabin strain, live attenuated varicella vaccine) or included in the emergency use list (inactivated vaccine of new coronavirus), the quality of the vaccine The management system has been recognized by international organizations and multinational drug regulatory authorities.
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