Author(s): Fonseca, Yasmin ; Almeida, Ana ; Santos, João Almeida
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/17103
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa
Subject(s): Hepatitis A; Epidemiology; Incidence; Portugal
Hepatitis A is an acute liver disease with fecal-oral transmission caused by a hepatotrophic picornavírus - Hepatitis A Virus (HAV). Food contamination with HAV can occur at any time: cultivation, harvesting, processing, handling, and even after cooking. Food and water contamination takes place more frequently in developing countries where the disease is common but can also occur in developed countries. Although uncommon, foodborne outbreaks have also occurred due to people consuming contaminated fresh and frozen imported food products. Therefore, monitoring the disease is an essential tool for the early implementation of preventive measures, applying the One Health approach to both the human and environmental dimensions to mitigate the impact that an outbreak may have on the population. Aim of the study: To characterize the evolution of the incidence of Hepatitis A cases in Portugal between the years 2012 and 2022.
