Why target children for immunization against Hepatitis A?
Hepatitis A is easily transmitted through children because they often have no symptoms when they get infected. It is usually only when an adult gets the infection that others become aware that an outbreak has occurred. This is due to the fact that adults who get Hepatitis A generally become quite ill. On the other hand, the younger the child, the less likely he is to have evidence of infection. So, by the time the child has successfully fought off the infection, he has probably infected several other people. Therefore, the only way to effectively eradicate this virus is to successfully immunize all children against this virus. The current recommendation in the U.S. does not call for routine immunization of all children because it is not a wide-spread problem in this country. However, in certain countries, a large portion of the population does have the virus. If you are travelling to a part of the world that includes those that have a high number of people with the disease, it would be
