Rospotrebnadzor warned about the outbreak of hepatitis A in 20 European countries
Moscow. 15 Oct. INTERFAX.RU — more than 2.8 thousand cases of hepatitis A registered in 20 countries of the European Union, said on Sunday the Federal service.
“According to the assessment of risk of spread of hepatitis A in EU countries, prepared by 29 September, the European centre for prevention and disease control (ECDC), in the period from 1 June 2016 27 September 2017 20 European countries (Austria, England, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Wales, Finland, France and Estonia) had reported 2 thousand 873 confirmed cases of hepatitis A”, — stated in the message.
According to the Ministry, Poland has not notified about the number of cases in 2017, however, the ECDC epidemiological screening in this country has shown as of 17 September of the current year 1 thousand 426 cases of hepatitis A, which is 55 times higher compared to the same period in 2016.
It is noted that the greatest number of cases of hepatitis A in these 20 countries was among men who have sex with other men (MSM).
“In the context of gender status current outbreak the most effective preventive measure is vaccination contingent MSM. However, in some EU countries (Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Sweden) supplies of vaccine against hepatitis A is currently missing and this can have a negative impact on the prevention of hepatitis A in Europe”, — informs Rospotrebnadzor.
The Agency adds that ECDC data show that outbreaks of hepatitis a are spreading in Europe and in future should be to strengthen it.