Newswise — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has unanimously adopted the recommendation that all children between ages 1 and 2 receive a two-dose vaccination against the hepatitis A virus.
The recommendation, presented to the committee this week, is expected to be adopted by federal health officials, which would make it the new national standard.
Hepatitis A vaccines were first licensed in 1995, but were only recently approved by the government for use in children as young as age 1.
Since 1999, the federal government has recommended hepatitis A vaccinations for children in 17 states where rates of the disease were highest. However, the success of those campaigns seems to have leveled off, prompting federal health officials to revisit the issue.
An important contributing factor in the decision was an economic analysis conducted by RTI International and the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis. The study indicated that expanding the vaccination program would result in substantial reductions in disease at a cost that is in line with other vaccination programs.
According to the study, the new policy would prevent 100,000 hepatitis A virus infections and 20 deaths over the lifetimes of each group of children vaccinated. The direct costs of the vaccine program, currently at $22 million, would increase to $134 million annually, but because the new immunization recommendation would prevent 90 percent of infections, the net cost of hepatitis A over the life of each group of children vaccinated would only increase by $45 million.
"The study demonstrates that expanding the hepatitis A vaccination program nationwide will result in substantial public health benefits at a reasonable cost," said David Rein, the economic evaluation's principal investigator for RTI International. "Cost-effectiveness studies allow us to estimate the relative value of a health policy. Nationwide vaccination for hepatitis A is a good value when compared to other recent vaccination recommendations."
About 25 percent of hepatitis A cases occur in children, but many adults get the disease from infected youngsters. The virus, which attacks the liver and can cause fever, diarrhea and jaundice, is sometimes caused by eating food contaminated with feces.
About RTI InternationalRTI International is an independent nonprofit research organization dedicated to conducting research and development that improves the human condition. With a staff of more than 2,500 people, RTI offers innovative research and technical solutions to governments and businesses worldwide in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, advanced technology, surveys and statistics, education and training, economic and social development, and the environment. For more information, please visit us at: http://www.rti.org.
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