HEPATITIS-A VACCINATION IN GREEK MILITARY RECRUITS

Improved standards of sanitation have contributed to a shift in the prevalence of hepatitis A in countries such as Greece. Children are now coming into first contact with the infection at an increasingly later age, leaving more adults susceptible to the disease. In military forces where close living conditions prevail, the likelihood of infection is even more pronounced. An inactivated hepatitis A vaccine has been developed and has been administered successfully to over 24,000 healthy children and adults. This vaccine would be of considerable benefit to military personnel worldwide. The reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a hepatitis A vaccine were evaluated in 200 female military recruits, aged from 17 to 23 years, vaccinated according to a primary vaccination schedule at 0 and 1 months with a booster dose at 6 months. Symptoms reported following vaccination were generally mild and transient. Soreness at the site of injection was the most frequent local symptom and malaise was the most common general symptom. Clinically significant increases in serum liver enzyme levels were not detected. All subjects had seroconverted after the primary vaccination course and maintained anti-HAV titres up to the time of the administration of the booster dose. The booster dose produced more than a tenfold increase in the geometric mean titre (GMT).