More than 40 cases of hepatitis A have been reported since the beginning of the year in Portugal, mostly in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, but the increase has stabilized, the director of the National Program for Viral Hepatitis told Lusa.
Speaking to Lusa, Rui Tato Marinho explained that the growth in cases is “not exponential” and that this is an outbreak that is not very significant from an epidemiological point of view.
“It’s an outbreak that has nothing to do with the outbreak of a few years ago, when there were between 500 and 600 cases,” he said, adding: “the situation seems to be under control.”
In mid-March, the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) reported an outbreak of hepatitis A, having initially identified 23 cases.
In the meantime, there has been an increase in cases and the most recent figures from the DGS point to 43 confirmed cases of hepatitis A.
The majority of cases were male (37 cases), aged between 20-49 years, 37% were sexually transmitted (16 cases), and there were no serious cases or deaths reported.
Of the total number of confirmed cases, 26 (60%) were acquired in Portugal, the majority in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region (31 cases). Sixteen cases were foreigners living in Portugal.
The Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) has identified, among those confirmed, 12 cases of the Hepatitis A virus strain previously identified in the outbreak that occurred between 2016 and 2018, affecting several European countries, including Portugal.
The information from the DGS also indicates that the Netherlands and other European countries have reported cases of hepatitis A since the end of December 2023, with a similar profile, and that the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reports that the strain currently circulating is similar to those that circulated in the EU/EEA in 2016 and 2018, mainly affecting men who have sex with men (MSM).
“The likelihood of new cases in the EU/EEA is assessed as high in the MSM population. The hepatitis A vaccine is safe and highly effective, and is the main prevention and response option in the current context,” adds the health authority.
Between 2020 and 2023, 102 cases were recorded in Portugal.
The DGS recommends immediate clinical notification of suspected cases on SINAVEmed (https://sinave.minsaude.pt/), carrying out an epidemiological survey and immediate notification by laboratories of confirmed cases, requesting that biological samples be sent to the National Reference Laboratory for Gastrointestinal Infections at the Doutor Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute.
The DGS also advises reinforcing public health measures, such as the message of food hygiene and safety, including washing hands before and after meals and sanitizing food preparation areas, and frequent hand washing and personal hygiene, especially of the genital and perianal region, particularly before and after using sanitary facilities and before and after sexual intercourse.
There is also a call for vaccination to be stepped up.
According to the DGS, contacts of confirmed cases – cohabitants and sexual contacts – should be vaccinated within two weeks of their last exposure.
If two weeks have passed and the vaccine is not indicated, the person should be advised to be vigilant with regard to symptoms and to reinforce appropriate measures to prevent possible transmission, as this can occur before symptoms appear.
The hepatitis A vaccine is available on prescription from community pharmacies.
