ATLANTA — A 51-year-old adoptive grandmother’s hospitalization from hepatitis has helped spur new vaccination recommendations for people in close contact with children adopted from other countries.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, meeting in Atlanta, voted Wednesday to recommend hepatitis A vaccinations for all close contacts of children coming from countries where hepatitis A is relatively common. That includes Guatemala, China, Russia and Ethiopia — four countries that are the major sources of international adoptions. The committee makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Federal officials estimate that international adoptees trigger only 100 to 1,000 of the estimated 32,000 hepatitis A infections that occur in the United States each year, but cases that do occur are sometimes tragic.
Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by a virus, which can spread through handling a diaper or other contact with contaminated feces. The two-dose vaccination costs about $140 per person.
Children adopted from other countries generally do not have recommended vaccinations when they arrive. Nontraveling family members of the new adoptee often aren’t vaccinated either.
