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Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A outbreak among men who have sex with men

Figure 2. Distribution of hepatitis A cases by gender and male-to-female ratio, January 2012 to August 2018, as of 7 September 2018, EU/EEA*

Last updated: 14 September 2018

Since June 2016, a significant number of EU/EEA countries have been reporting hepatitis A mostly affecting men who have sex with men (MSM). Outbreak-confirmed cases provide an underestimation of the true extent of the outbreak.

So far cases were reported by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands (until July 2018), Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

A main prevention measure in this context is hepatitis A vaccination of MSM and their close contacts according to national recommendations.

ECDC issued a rapid risk assessment and is regularly monitoring the outbreak.

Latest updates

News

Epidemiological update: Hepatitis A outbreak in the EU/EEA mostly affecting men who have sex with men

epidemiological update -

Publication

Communicable Disease Threats Report, 3-9 June 2018, week 23

publication -

Publication

Rapid risk assessment: Multi-country outbreak of hepatitis A virus genotype IA infections affecting EU countries in 2018

risk assessment -

Publication

Communicable disease threats report, 29 April - 5 May 2018, Week 18

publication -
4 475
cases since June 2016
22
countries reported cases
Prevention
Vaccination of MSM & contacts

Threats and outbreaks

Threats and outbreaks of hepatitis A

Surveillance and disease data

Facts

Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus, a small, non-enveloped hepatotropic virus classified in the genus Hepatovirus within the family Picornaviridae.

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Disease programmes and networks

Food- and waterborne diseases and zoonoses Programme

European Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses Network (FWD-Net)

FWD Expert Exchange Programme

Peer-reviewed publications

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Seroprevalence and susceptibility to hepatitis A in the European Union and European Economic Area: A systematic review

2017