Adherence to hepatitis A travel health guidelines: A cross-sectional seroprevalence study in Dutch travelling families - The Dutch travel Vaccination Study (DiVeST)
This Dutch travel Vaccination Study (DiVeST) aimed to study adherence or compliance to Dutch travel health guidelines in travelling families and to identify risk groups to provide better advice and protection for international travellers.
Methods
Between 2016 and 2018, family members who travelled to Eastern Europe or outside Europe during the preceding year were recruited via Dutch secondary schools. The vaccination status of the travellers was assessed using questionnaires and vaccination records and hepatitis A virus antibody concentrations in dried blood spot (DBS) eluates. Subgroups of travellers with lower adherence to guidelines were identified.
Results
Of the 246 travellers that participated in this study, 155 (63%) travelled to destinations for which the HAV vaccination was recommended. Of these 155 travellers, 56 (36%) said they visited a pre-travel clinic, and 64 of them (41%) showed a valid HAV vaccination in their vaccination records. Of the 145 travellers with available DBS eluates, anti-HAV antibodies were detected in 98 (68%) of them.
Conclusions
We found that adherence to travel health guidelines, in terms of HAV vaccination, was suboptimal. According to our results, specific attention should be paid to children, persons visiting friends and relatives and those who travel relatively short distances.
Keywords
Vaccination coverage
Guideline adherence
Compliance
Hepatitis A
Travel medicine
Immunisation
Abbreviations
CLIA
chemiluminescent immunoassay
DBS
dried blood spot
DTP
diphtheria, tetanus and polio
ELISA
enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
HAV
Hepatitis A virus
LCR
Landelijk Coördinatiecentrum Reizigersadvisering (Dutch National Coordination Centre for Travellers' Health Advice)