HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE
An epidemic of viral hepatitis type A in an arctic area is described. From 1970–1974, 4961 clinical cases of hepatitis were reported in Greenland, corresponding to 11 per cent of the total population. Epidemiologic surveillance indicated person-to-person transmission of the disease, apparently by th...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:amjepid:105/2/140 2023-05-15T15:07:23+02:00 HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE SKINHØJ, PETER MIKKELSEN, FLEMMING HOLLINGER, F. BLAINE 1977-02-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/105/2/140 en eng Oxford University Press http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/105/2/140 Copyright (C) 1977, Oxford University Press ARTICLES TEXT 1977 fthighwire 2016-11-16T18:28:12Z An epidemic of viral hepatitis type A in an arctic area is described. From 1970–1974, 4961 clinical cases of hepatitis were reported in Greenland, corresponding to 11 per cent of the total population. Epidemiologic surveillance indicated person-to-person transmission of the disease, apparently by the oral-fecal route. The course of the disease was mild, and complications were rare with a case fatality rate of 0.3%. Ninety-three per cent of the cases occurred in individuals 1–25 years of age, suggesting widespread immunity in the adult population presumably due to infection with hepatitis A during a similar epidemic in 1947–1948. The occurrence of antibody to hepatitis A antigen (anti-HA) in healthy Greenlanders, as detected by radioimmunoassay, closely paralleled this observation. Anti-HA was present in 38 (93%) of 41 individuals born before 1948 and in one (3%) of 29 younger persons. Anti-HA also was detected during the epidemic in the sera of 25 randomly selected hepatitis cases. Immunoglobulin analysis in three acute-phase sera showed anti-HA reactivity predominantly in the IgM fraction. The epidemic showed no relation to the hepatitis episodes occurring annually in the area, and sero-epidemiologic data indicated that the endemic hepatitis may be caused by hepatitis B virus only. Text Arctic Greenland greenlander* HighWire Press (Stanford University) Arctic Greenland |
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ARTICLES |
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ARTICLES SKINHØJ, PETER MIKKELSEN, FLEMMING HOLLINGER, F. BLAINE HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
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ARTICLES |
description |
An epidemic of viral hepatitis type A in an arctic area is described. From 1970–1974, 4961 clinical cases of hepatitis were reported in Greenland, corresponding to 11 per cent of the total population. Epidemiologic surveillance indicated person-to-person transmission of the disease, apparently by the oral-fecal route. The course of the disease was mild, and complications were rare with a case fatality rate of 0.3%. Ninety-three per cent of the cases occurred in individuals 1–25 years of age, suggesting widespread immunity in the adult population presumably due to infection with hepatitis A during a similar epidemic in 1947–1948. The occurrence of antibody to hepatitis A antigen (anti-HA) in healthy Greenlanders, as detected by radioimmunoassay, closely paralleled this observation. Anti-HA was present in 38 (93%) of 41 individuals born before 1948 and in one (3%) of 29 younger persons. Anti-HA also was detected during the epidemic in the sera of 25 randomly selected hepatitis cases. Immunoglobulin analysis in three acute-phase sera showed anti-HA reactivity predominantly in the IgM fraction. The epidemic showed no relation to the hepatitis episodes occurring annually in the area, and sero-epidemiologic data indicated that the endemic hepatitis may be caused by hepatitis B virus only. |
format |
Text |
author |
SKINHØJ, PETER MIKKELSEN, FLEMMING HOLLINGER, F. BLAINE |
author_facet |
SKINHØJ, PETER MIKKELSEN, FLEMMING HOLLINGER, F. BLAINE |
author_sort |
SKINHØJ, PETER |
title |
HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
title_short |
HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
title_full |
HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
title_fullStr |
HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
title_full_unstemmed |
HEPATITIS A IN GREENLAND: IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC ANTIBODY TESTING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEILLANCE |
title_sort |
hepatitis a in greenland: importance of specific antibody testing in epidemiologic surveillance |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
1977 |
url |
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/105/2/140 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland greenlander* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland greenlander* |
op_relation |
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/105/2/140 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 1977, Oxford University Press |
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1766338902407249920 |