Impact of hepatitis a in Siena: A “traveller's disease”?

Over a period of seven years (from 1980 to 1987) 58 acute viral hepatitis A cases were admitted to the Departments for Infectious Diseases. This number represents 10.76% of all viral hepatitis patients. Most of the patients had travelled to foreign countries or to areas in Italy with high hepatitis A virus (HAV) circulation. An assessment of specific immunization against HAV in normal healthy people aged 1–60, performed by ELISA, showed a very low number of sero-positive subjects.