Considerations of HAV vaccine in India

Currently available evidence indicates that most parts of India still quality to be hyper-endemic regions and hence recommendations for vaccinations developed for low endemicity regions are not applicable. There are however, some pockets which showed evidence of distinct epidemiologic shift. There is need to identify geographic regions like Kerala which have potential for epidemic outbreaks through cyclic sero-epidemiological surveys. With economic development and consequent improvements in the levels of sanitation and quality of water supplies, more such areas will be identified. Efforts to improve sanitation and personal hygiene will remain as the most important and efficient intervention to retard the transmission of HAV. Unless a critical improvement in the living standards of our population is achieved, aim of eradicating HAV infection from the community is not realistic. Presently, the cost of three doses of HAV is exorbitant and the focus of HAV vaccination will have to be restricted to individual protection who are likely to remain unexposed till adulthood and can afford to pay for it. HAV Infection below 5 years is mostly asymptomatic. The most efficient use of resources will therefore be to offer HAV vaccine to high risk individuals beyond this age after screening for antibodies against HAV.