{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:25:48Z","timestamp":1760145948182,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]],"date-time":"2024-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1726617600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is a significant global cause of viral hepatitis. At present, the anti-HAV vaccine in Italy is proposed exclusively for specific high-risk groups, and a universal vaccination program is not implemented. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the level of immunity against HAV in patients of both sexes across age groups ranging from 0 to 95 years admitted to the San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d\u2019Aragona Hospital in Salerno, Italy, over a 9-year period (2015\u20132023). Methods: The total HAV seroprevalence by chemiluminescence Vitros system immunodiagnostics (ortho-diagnostics) was obtained by database analysis, stratifying patients for gender and age group in both the pre-pandemic (2015\u20132019) and pandemic (2020\u20132023) periods. Results: Out of 28,104 samples collected in 2015\u20132023, 20,613 resulted positive by total HAV immune screening, with a significant reduction in the annualized proportion of events during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period. HAV was more abundant in males than females in both periods (exceeding the 70%), with a statistically significant decrease in HAV in females in 2015\u20132019. The 61\u201370-year-old age group is more susceptible for both genders, with a strong deviation from the 41\u201350-year-old age group compared to the 51\u201360-year-old group. The pandemic period affected the number of analyzed samples in 2020. Conclusions: The study revealed high HAV seroprevalence, especially in males and individuals aged 61\u201370 years. There was a notable decrease in seroprevalence during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic years. These results emphasize the need for ongoing monitoring and suggest that a universal vaccination program could address regional immunity gaps and lower disease incidence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13185534","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,19]],"date-time":"2024-09-19T03:34:20Z","timestamp":1726716860000},"page":"5534","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Unveiling the Burden of Hepatitis A in Salerno, Italy: A Comprehensive 9-Year Retrospective Study (2015\u20132023) on the Seroprevalence of HAV Antibodies and Age\/Sex Distribution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6556-0760","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enrica","family":"Serretiello","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Unit, San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D\u2019Aragona University Hospital, 84131 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-1682-3792","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Domenico","family":"Iervolino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2074-1291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Di Siervi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Unit, San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D\u2019Aragona University Hospital, 84131 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luigi","family":"Gallo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Unit, San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D\u2019Aragona University Hospital, 84131 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesca F.","family":"Bernardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"U.O.D. Tutela Della Salute e il Coordinamento del Sistema Sanitario Regionale\u2014Regione Campania, 80143 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8109-0655","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pasquale","family":"Pagliano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry \u201cScuola Medica Salernitana\u201d, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7757-6855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Boccia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry \u201cScuola Medica Salernitana\u201d, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Salerno, Italy"},{"name":"UOC Hospital and Epidemiological Hygiene, San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D\u2019Aragona University Hospital, 84131 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Veronica","family":"Folliero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry \u201cScuola Medica Salernitana\u201d, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3321-4331","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gianluigi","family":"Franci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Unit, San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi D\u2019Aragona University Hospital, 84131 Salerno, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry \u201cScuola Medica Salernitana\u201d, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Rinaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Health Sciences \u201cV. Tiberio\u201d, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"a031716","DOI":"10.1101\/cshperspect.a031716","article-title":"Globalization and the Changing Epidemiology of Hepatitis A Virus","volume":"8","author":"Jacobsen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1068","DOI":"10.1007\/s12072-021-10232-4","article-title":"The global trends and regional differences in incidence and mortality of hepatitis A from 1990 to 2019 and implications for its prevention","volume":"15","author":"Cao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Hepatol. Int."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kunanitthaworn, N., Mueangmo, O., Saheng, J., Wongjak, W., Lertsiriladakul, T., Chaito, T., Nantarat, P., and Sudjaritruk, T. 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