[Epidemiology of viral hepatitis in France]

Viral hepatitis A is a vaccine preventable disease. It frequently occurs in France at the end of the summer among individuals back from high endemic countries. It is a notificable disease with an incidence threefold higher among children below fifteen years of age. Prevention is based on personal and collective hygiene and contacts' vaccination around a case. In France viral hepatitis E cases are more likely autochthonous than imported. In most of autochthonous cases, the source of infection and the transmission route remain unexplained. Following the implementation of mandatory notification in 2003, over 750 cases of acute symptomatic hepatitis B have been notified between 2005 and 2009. Half of them could have been avoided, if current immunisation recommendations would have been applied adequately. In France, more than 500,000 individuals are living with chronic hepatitis B or C, with 4000 deaths attributable to these hepatitis. Improved and reinforced HBV and HCV screening for individuals at risks are priority issues to better access to care and application of prevention measures around a case.