[A trial of using immunoglobulins of known specificity for preventing hepatitis A in regions with high epidemic activity].

The economic effectiveness of immunoglobulin prophylaxis (IGP), carried out among children aged 1-3 at the beginning of a seasonal rise in hepatitis A (HA) morbidity with high coefficients of protection (80-85%), was directly related to the activity of the epidemic process. Preparations with sufficiently high content of antibodies to HA virus sharply decreased the manifestation of this infection. The detection rate of the manifest forms of the infection among children covered by prophylactic measures in the foci of HA was considerably lower than among children who had not received the preparation.

[Specific immunity in preschool children at high risk of infection with hepatitis A virus].

The dynamics of postinfection immunity to hepatitis A (HA) in preschool children was studied for 2 years in an area with a high activity of the epidemic process. In primary examinations by radioimmunoassay, anti-HAV were found in 82% of the subjects. The degree of the immunity intensity was found to be markedly variable: in 21% of the children the titre of anti-HAV was 1:10, in 28%-1:40, in 37%-1:160, in 14%-1:640.

[Epidemiologic characteristics of hepatitis A morbidity among children from one of the districts of Moscow in 1982-1986].

By the epidemic features, the district under study may be classified as a territory with moderate epidemic activity of hepatitis A (HA). The highest incidence was observed in children of 3-6 years of age. Annually, the seasonal wave in the district was started in school children.

[Multiyear and seasonal hepatitis A morbidity in different population age groups in certain areas].

At the areas with high activity of hepatitis A (HA) epidemic process the duration of epidemic cycles was shown to differ, the intervals between the peaks of morbidity increasing in older age groups. The beginning of seasonal rises exceeding the average annual HA morbidity level in different age groups was found to depend on the activity of the epidemic process. At the areas with the highest activity of the epidemic process children aged 1-2 years were the first to be affected by the seasonal rise of HA.