Epidemiology of severe hepatitis A in Indigenous Australian children

  1. C Raina MacIntyre1,*,
  2. Margaret Burgess1,
  3. David Isaacs2,
  4. Peter B McIntyre1,
  5. Robert Menzies1,
  6. Brynley Hull1

Article first published online: 1 MAY 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01084.x

Issue

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Volume 43, Issue 5, pages 383–387, May 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

MacIntyre, C. R., Burgess, M., Isaacs, D., McIntyre, P. B., Menzies, R. and Hull, B. (2007), Epidemiology of severe hepatitis A in Indigenous Australian children. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 43: 383–387. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01084.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS), The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the University of Sydney (NCIRS is a collaborating unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) and

  2. 2

    Immunology and Infectious Diseases, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

*Professor Raina McIntyre, Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, National Centre for Immunisation Research, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australian. Fax: +61 2 9845 1418; email: rainam@chw.edu.au

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 MAY 2007
  2. Article first published online: 1 MAY 2007
  3. Accepted for publication 24 October 2006.

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Keywords:

  • Australia;
  • epidemiology;
  • hepatitis A;
  • Indigenous

Aims:  To describe the epidemiology of hepatitis A in Indigenous Australian children.

Methods:  Analysis and mapping of national notification and hospitalisation data.

Results:  Indigenous Australian children are at far higher risk of clinical hepatitis A than their non-Indigenous counterparts, particularly in the age group 0–4 years. Rates of hospitalisation (15.5 vs. 0.3 per 100 000) and notification (24.4 vs. 1.8 per 100 000) were higher in Indigenous children aged 0–4 years compared with other children in the same age group. In the age group 5–14 years, the rates were 4.4 per 100 000 (Indigenous) versus 0.6 per 100 000 (non-Indigenous) hospitalisations. This excess morbidity falls sharply with age. Rates were the highest in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and North Queensland.

Conclusions:  Indigenous children are at risk of hepatitis A, particularly early in life. Mapping shows that rates were the highest in jurisdictions with the largest Indigenous populations. This study presents baseline data against which to measure the success of new hepatitis A vaccination programme for Indigenous Australian children which commenced in 2005.

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