Estimating vaccination threshold and impact in the 2017-2019 hepatitis A virus outbreak among persons experiencing homelessness or who use drugs in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Between September 2017 and June 2019, an outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV) occurred in Louisville, Kentucky, resulting in 501 cases and 6 deaths, predominantly among persons who experience homelessness or who use drugs (PEH/PWUD). The critical vaccination threshold (V_c) required to achieve herd immunity in this population is unknown. We investigated V_c and vaccination impact using epidemic modeling.

Methods

To determine which population subgroups had high infection risks, we employed a technique based on comparing the proportion of cases arising before and after the epidemic peak, across subgroups. We also developed a dynamic deterministic model of HAV transmission among PEH/PWUD to estimate the basic reproduction number (R₀), he

SUBMITTER: Dankwa EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9128446 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature