Comparative hepatitis A seroepidemiology in 10 European countries.

The WHO recommends hepatitis A virus (HAV) immunization according to level of transmission and disease burden. We aimed to identify susceptible age groups by standardized serosurveys to inform HAV vaccination policy in participating countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia. Each country tested national serum banks (n = 1854-6748), collected during 1996-2004, for anti-HAV antibodies.

A comparison of hepatitis B seroepidemiology in ten European countries.

To inform current and future vaccination strategies, we describe the seroepidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in ten representative European countries using standardized serology that allowed international comparisons. Between 1996 and 2003, national serum banks were compiled by collecting residual sera or by community sampling; sera were then tested by each country using its preferred enzyme immunoassays and testing algorithm, and assay results were standardized. Information on current and past HBV vaccination programmes in each country was also collected.

The European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 (ESEN2): standardization of assay results for hepatitis A virus (HAV) to enable comparisons of seroprevalence data across 15 countries.

The European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 (ESEN2) aimed to compare serological results of vaccine-preventable diseases across Europe. To ensure direct inter-country comparability of hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) measurements, a standardization panel of 150 sera was developed by a designated reference laboratory and tested by participating national laboratories using assays of choice; each country's results were subsequently regressed against those of the reference laboratory. Quantitatively, the assays were generally highly correlated (R2>0.

[Seroepidemiology studies on population immune background to viral hepatitis B].

Material And Method: The studies have been carried out in 855 males and females aged over 20 years belonging to the general population and health care profession included in the European Sero-Epidemiology Network (ESEN) Programme aimed at assessing the population immune background against hepatitis B virus. The serological markers, represented by HBsAg, antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBsAg) and HBcAg (anti-HBcAg) were investigated by the methods widely used in seroepidemiology studies. The patients were divided into 4 subgroups.

[The co-infection with hepatitis virus B and D--cases admitted in the infectious diseases hospital from Iaşi, Romania (2003-2005)].

Despite the major medical advance, over 350 million people worldwide still have chronic infection with hepatitis B virus and HBV-associated liver disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. 15-50% of patient VHB infected have serological markers for VHD co-infection. We retrospectively studied 252 cases of acute hepatitis B (AHB) admitted in our hospital between 2003-2005; 12 of them (4.

The European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2: standardization of assay results for hepatitis B virus.

The aim of the European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 was to coordinate and standardize the serological surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe. In this study, the standardization of hepatitis B virus (HBV) results is described. The 15 participating national laboratories tested a unique panel of 172 sera established by the Greek reference centre for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) and/or to the HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) by assay methods of their choice.

A clinical, epidemiological and laboratory study on avoiding the risk of transmitting viral hepatitis during vaccinations with the Dermojet protected by an anticontaminant disposable device.

Jet injectors may transmit blood-borne infections, such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To evaluate the safety of an anticontaminant disposable device which protects the jet injector apparatus, 22,714 healthy subjects were intradermally inoculated (38,162 inoculations) with a variety of vaccines. All the subjects were systematically followed-up clinically and epidemiologically for 6-18 months after inoculation; blood samples from 1619 subjects, before and 60-75 days after inoculation, were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HBV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus markers among the members of the medical-sanitary staff from the Faculty of Dentistry "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest.

This study was developed in an attempt to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus markers in the sanitary personnel from dentistry clinics which represents a high risk group concerning both contamination and transmission of the infection. The results of the study showed a higher contamination by virus B than virus C. The distribution of contamination depending upon the position held by the staff members revealed a higher contamination incidence among medium level personnel than among high level personnel.