A role for combined vaccination against hepatitis A and B?

AbstractThis report reviews hepatitis A and B immunization recommendations and assesses the potential role of a combined hepatitis vaccine. Although hepatitis A and B are very different diseases, overlap exists in their epidemiologic patterns. Both are most prevalent in developing countries, with areas of low endemicity in industrialized nations. Potential sources of infection common to both hepatitis A and hepatitis B (i.e., international travel, close contact with residents of institutions or young children and infants, male homosexual activity, and drug use) indicate that certain groups may be at increased risk of both diseases. Well-tolerated and immunogenic vaccines are available for both hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Although hepatitis B vaccine is now being introduced into universal infant immunization programs in many countries, hepatitis A vaccination is currently recommended for high-risk groups only. This review examines the potential role of a single vaccination against both forms of hepatitis

Filariasis in Travelers Presenting to the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network

As international travel increases, there is rising exposure to many pathogens not traditionally encountered in the resource-rich countries of the world. The GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, a global network of medicine/travel clinics, was established in 1995 to detect morbidity trends among travelers. Filarial infections (parasitic worm infections that cause, among others, onchocerciasis [river blindness], lymphatic filariasis [e.g. elephantiasis, lymphedema, hydrocele] and loiasis [African eyeworm]) comprised 0.62% (n = 271) of the 43,722 medical conditions reported to the GeoSentinel Network between 1995 and 2004. Immigrants from filarial-endemic regions comprised the group most likely to have acquired a filarial infection; sub-Saharan Africa was the region of the world where the majority of filarial infections were acquired. Long-term travel (greater than 1 month) was more likely to be associated with acquisition of one of the filarial infections than shorter-term travel