Lednar W M, Lemon S M, Kirkpatrick J W, Redfield R R, Fields M L, Kelley P W
Am J Epidemiol. 1985 Aug;122(2):226-33. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114093.
Hepatitis A virus infection is often described as mild or asymptomatic, particularly in children. The failure of most adults who are found to be immune to remember symptoms of an illness suggestive of hepatitis A virus supports this belief. In 1982, two large outbreaks occurred in well documented populations of military personnel. These outbreaks were each extensively studied epidemiologically and serologically. It was found that 28/29 (96.6%) hepatitis A infections recognized prior to immune serum globulin in Outbreak A and 35/46 (76.1%) infections in Outbreak A were symptomatic. Symptomatic cases failed to occur beyond eight days of immune serum globulin administration to these predominantly susceptible groups. Between 40 and 70% of patients were icteric. Apparent contrasts in symptoms associated with hepatitis A infection in adults and children suggest a basic age-dependent difference in immune response to such infection.
甲型肝炎病毒感染通常被描述为症状轻微或无症状，尤其是在儿童中。大多数被发现具有免疫力的成年人记不起提示甲型肝炎病毒感染的疾病症状，这一现象支持了这一观点。1982年，在有充分记录的军事人员群体中发生了两起大规模疫情。对这两起疫情都进行了广泛的流行病学和血清学研究。结果发现，在A疫情中，在给予免疫血清球蛋白之前确认的28/29例（96.6%）甲型肝炎感染以及在B疫情中的35/46例（76.1%）感染出现了症状。在向这些主要为易感人群给予免疫血清球蛋白超过八天后，未出现有症状的病例。40%至70%的患者出现黄疸。成人和儿童甲型肝炎感染相关症状的明显差异表明，对这种感染的免疫反应存在基本的年龄依赖性差异。
