Abstract
Objective: Not only most travelers are interested in vaccinations as international travel but also many reports are available in Western countries on the travelers vaccines particularly in hepatitis A and hepatitis B, however little information about them in Japan in spite of presence of 17 million overseas travelers. In this study, we analyzed the immunity to hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus in Japanese travelers at a travel clinic and evaluate to the necessity of vaccines against them for travelers who are going to endemic areas. Methods: A retrospective observational study included 428 Japanese travelers who visited our institutions for pre-travel health check-up during the period October 2005 through March 2006 and were tested for hepatitis A antibody (HAAb) and hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb). Results: History of vaccination against HA and HB was obtained. Of the 293 subjects who had not received HA vaccination,10.2% were positive for HAAb; 80% of these were more than 60 years of age, and 25% were less than 50 years of age. Of the 308 subjects who had not received HB vaccination,6.2% were positive for HBsAb. Conclusion: These results have aided our pre-travel advice for Japanese travelers planning to visit areas endemic for the HA and HB viruses. Elderly individuals may elect to have an HAAb titer check before receiving the HA vaccine.
