Should aboriginals in the "top end" of the Northern Territory be vaccinated against hepatitis A?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of immunity to hepatitis A virus infection in rural Australian Aboriginal populations in the "Top End" of the Northern Territory. METHODS: A total of 344 sera, for which details of donors' age, sex and domicile were available, were collected and tested for hepatitis A total antibody in a delinked seroprevalence study. RESULTS: Overall, 337/344 samples (97.97%) tested positive for hepatitis A total antibodies--18/20 samples (90%) in the 1-5 year age group; 85/88 (96.6%) in the 6-10 year age group; 98/98 (100%) in the 11-15 year age group; 32/33 (97.0%) in the 16-20 year age group and 104/105 (99%) in the older than 20 year age group. CONCLUSION: Hepatitis A i..