Technical meeting on hepatitis A outbreak response

Hepatitis A remains highly endemic worldwide. Global travel will continue to present added opportunities for introduction of infection to non-immune populations in the EU. Thus effective outbreak control measures combined with a preventive approach will be important in reducing the possible impact of sporadic outbreaks in the EU. During a meeting in Riga, Latvia, in November 2008, scientists from several EU countries discussed various technical aspects of hepatitis A, such as control options for outbreak situations and vaccination strategies. Participants were particularly interested in identifying the relative effectiveness of different vaccination strategies in controlling outbreaks and the cost-effectiveness of vaccination options compared to general measures.