Giuseppe
Emeritus
Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009 (Euro Surveill., abstract, edited)
[Source: Eurosurveillance, full text: <cite cite="http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19808">Eurosurveillance - View Article</cite>. Abstract, edited.]
Eurosurveillance, Volume 16, Issue 9, 03 March 2011
Surveillance and outbreak reports
Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009
O Sfetcu 1,2, N Irvine 1, S L Ngui 3, C Emerson 4, C McCaughey 5, P Donaghy 1
1. Health Protection Service, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
2. European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden
3. Virus Reference Department (VRD), Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom
4. Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic, Royal Hospitals, Belfast HSC Trust, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
5. Regional Virus Laboratory, Royal Hospitals, Belfast HSC Trust, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Citation style for this article: Sfetcu O, Irvine N, Ngui SL, Emerson C, McCaughey C, Donaghy P. Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(9)
ii=19808. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19808
Date of submission: 13 April 2010
We describe an outbreak of hepatitis A which evolved in Northern Ireland between October 2008 and July 2009, against a background of large concurrent hepatitis A outbreaks in various parts of Europe. Thirty-eight cases were defined as outbreak cases using a stratified case definition; 36 were males with a median age of 29 years and of the 28 males whose sexual orientation was known, 26 were men who have sex with men (MSM). Detailed descriptive epidemiology data collected through standardised questionnaires, together with sequencing of a 289 bp fragment of the VP1/2PA region of the virus, significantly aided the understanding of the spread of the outbreak when non-MSM cases occurred. The sequence of the outbreak strain, genotype IA, was indistinguishable from that involved in a large outbreak in the Czech Republic. Although seeded in a generally susceptible Northern Ireland population, the outbreak remained mostly contained in MSM, showing this sub-population to be the most vulnerable despite ongoing hepatitis A vaccination programmes in genito-urinary medicine clinics.
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Eurosurveillance, Volume 16, Issue 9, 03 March 2011
Surveillance and outbreak reports
Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009
O Sfetcu 1,2, N Irvine 1, S L Ngui 3, C Emerson 4, C McCaughey 5, P Donaghy 1
1. Health Protection Service, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
2. European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden
3. Virus Reference Department (VRD), Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom
4. Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic, Royal Hospitals, Belfast HSC Trust, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
5. Regional Virus Laboratory, Royal Hospitals, Belfast HSC Trust, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Citation style for this article: Sfetcu O, Irvine N, Ngui SL, Emerson C, McCaughey C, Donaghy P. Hepatitis A outbreak predominantly affecting men who have sex with men in Northern Ireland, October 2008 to July 2009. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(9)
ii=19808. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19808Date of submission: 13 April 2010
We describe an outbreak of hepatitis A which evolved in Northern Ireland between October 2008 and July 2009, against a background of large concurrent hepatitis A outbreaks in various parts of Europe. Thirty-eight cases were defined as outbreak cases using a stratified case definition; 36 were males with a median age of 29 years and of the 28 males whose sexual orientation was known, 26 were men who have sex with men (MSM). Detailed descriptive epidemiology data collected through standardised questionnaires, together with sequencing of a 289 bp fragment of the VP1/2PA region of the virus, significantly aided the understanding of the spread of the outbreak when non-MSM cases occurred. The sequence of the outbreak strain, genotype IA, was indistinguishable from that involved in a large outbreak in the Czech Republic. Although seeded in a generally susceptible Northern Ireland population, the outbreak remained mostly contained in MSM, showing this sub-population to be the most vulnerable despite ongoing hepatitis A vaccination programmes in genito-urinary medicine clinics.
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