Hepatitis A Virus Outbreaks Associated with Drug Use and Homelessness — California, Kentucky, Michigan, and Utah, 2017
MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report·
- DOI
- 10.15585/mmwr.mm6743a3
- PMID
- 30383739
- PMCID
- PMC6319801
- OpenAlex
- W2899220521
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Centers for Disease Control MMWR Office
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Vaccination of high-risk populations reporting drug use or homelessness can prevent future HAV outbreaks involving direct person-to-person transmission.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The investigation examined hepatitis A virus outbreaks occurring in 2017 among populations reporting drug use or homelessness in California, Kentucky, Michigan, and Utah.
Study design
Local and state health departments conducted outbreak investigations of acute HAV infections reported to CDC during 2017.
Population and setting
The majority of the 1,521 reported acute HAV infections occurred among persons reporting injection or noninjection drug use or homelessness across four U.S. states.
Main findings
Investigations indicated direct person-to-person HAV transmission was occurring, representing a shift from recent large U.S. outbreaks attributed to contaminated commercial food products. The findings signal a change in HAV epidemiology in the United States.
Public-health relevance
Vaccination of high-risk populations reporting drug use or homelessness can prevent future HAV outbreaks involving direct person-to-person transmission.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and bibliographic metadata. The original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation of outbreak investigation methods, case definitions, and transmission pathway evidence.
GIDS interpretation
The paper describes multi-state outbreak investigations of hepatitis A virus. It would be discoverable through searches for HAV outbreaks, drug use-associated infections, homelessness and infectious disease, or direct person-to-person transmission events in the United States during 2017.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 10 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.