Assessment of the Protective Effectiveness and Memory Immune Response of a One-Dose Hepatitis A Vaccination in Nicaraguan Children

Abstract

            In this research article they performed a 7.5 year long observational study of the protective effectiveness and memory immune response in Nicaraguan Children to a one-dose version of the Hepatitis A Vaccine. Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) is endemic in Nicaragua. In most countries, such as the United States a two-dose version of the HAV vaccine is given to children, but in poverty stricken countries, like Nicaragua, this isn’t feasible. So the point of this study is to try a one-dose HAV vaccination on a group of 130 children to see the protective effectiveness of it and to perform serological tests to see how effectively antibodies are being produced in response to the vaccine and if the immune system develops memory to this vaccine. The article is highly relevant and important due to the fact that Hepatitis A is very prominent in poor countries, especially in countries where the population doesn’t have access to clean water or ways to keep personal hygiene. This vaccine is usually given to children to start building immunity early because it is very devastating to vulnerable age groups, such as the young and elderly. There were some problems that arouse in this study that I will discuss, but over all this study proved successful in attaining protective effectiveness and memory immune response.