--- title: Early Vaccinations Can Help Lower Hep. A Infections date: 2006-06-06T09:43:20-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/early-vaccinations-can-help-lower-hep-a-infections" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / # Early Vaccinations Can Help Lower Hep. A Infections By Elizabeth Smoots, MD | PRACTICAL PREVENTION The Kitsap Sun June 3, 2006 My patient was very sick with hepatitis A. Adults usually suffer the most from hepatitis A. But children are the ones who contract it more readily — usually with mild symptoms or none — frequently transmitting the infection to family members or close contacts. The good news is that a unique vaccination program in children has dropped the hepatitis A rate 76 percent over six years for all age groups in our country. Here’s how the program works and why the government has begun advising hepatitis A vaccines for all one-year-olds. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, published a report about the federal government’s hepatitis A vaccination program in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year. The program targets children ages 2 to 18 years in 17 high-risk states to receive vaccines to prevent hepatitis A. The report states that the rate of infection fell from 10.7 cases per 100,000 people during the pre-vaccination period ending in 1997 to 2.6 cases per 100,000 people in 2003. That latest figure is the lowest rate since monitoring of the disease began in the 1960s. In other words, the program has achieved a historic low in hepatitis A infections. Not at all shabby! The government program continues to this day in the 17 states. Routine vaccination for children ages 2 to 18 is recommended in the highest risk states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. Vaccination for children is to be considered in the intermediate-risk states of Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Texas and Wyoming. Thanks to the vaccination program, the hepatitis A rate in those states has fallen to nearly the same level as that achieved in low-risk states around the nation. Routine vaccination of children has also reduced transmission of hepatitis A to adults who, as we’ve seen, often get much sicker. Children are considered promoters of hepatitis A because they may carry the virus without showing symptoms. The viral infection is transmitted person-to-person through close contact or from food and water that’s been contaminated with feces. The success of the nationwide vaccination program has prompted new advice about the hepatitis A vaccine for kids. As of this year, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) says that all children should start the hepatitis A vaccine series between the ages of 12 and 23 months. The kids need a booster shot 6 to 18 months later to obtain long-lasting protection. States at high risk for hepatitis A should continue to vaccinate all children ages 2 to 18 years, according to ACIP. Likewise, intermediate-risk states are to continue considering vaccination for children in this age group. ACIP recommends the two-shot hepatitis A vaccine series for high-risk individuals of all ages, too. Included in this group are foreign travelers, gay men, drug abusers, and people with clotting disorders or chronic liver disease. I’m happy to inform you that my patient eventually recovered fully. For more information: Immunization Action Coalition, www.vaccineinformation.org. Contact Dr. Elizabeth Smoots, a board-certified family physician at doctor@practicalprevention.com. 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