[Hepatitis A in Oslo]

During the last six years we have registered 237 persons with acute hepatitis A in Oslo, 96 of them with non-Scandinavian names. The number with non-Scandinavian names is increasing. Almost all the hepatitis A patients with non-Scandinavian names are children, and two of three had been infected in Pakistan. Adult immigrants from countries where hepatitis A is endemic do not need any prophylaxis against hepatitis A. 29,800 travellers were given human normal immunoglobulin at our department during the last five years and none of them acquired hepatitis A. To prevent import of hepatitis A it is of particular importance to give human normal immunoglobulin or hepatitis A vaccine to all children of immigrants before they visit their parents' country.