Between 1is January and July 31, 2025, 73 cases of acute infections by the hepatitis A virus (VHA) were declared in the Rhône department, an increase of 356 % compared to the same period in 2024 (16 cases). The trend seems to accelerate this summer, with 57 cases reported between the 1is July and August 13, mainly in Lyon, in the 7th arrondissement, indicates the Directorate General of Health in a DGS-Urgent Posted on August 19.
Cases are adults, over the age of 65 (no pediatric case identified for the time being), as in previous years. No hypothesis to explain this resurgence has been identified and the investigations are underway. But the DGS alerts to a possible amplification of the circulation of the virus in Lyon.
Liver and serology in the face of evocative symptoms
She therefore calls on doctors to be vigilant in the face of patients with symptoms compatible with the VHA, even without a notion of obvious exposure, and to request a hepatic assessment as well as a serology. As a reminder, a VHA infection, which is transmitted through contaminated hands or foods, can manifest itself by the presence of fever, abdominal, nausea, loss of appetite, asthenia and jaundice. The disease can go unnoticed, especially in children.
In the majority of cases, acute hepatitis healed spontaneously without sequelae. But serious, rarer forms occur mainly in adults, with a risk of severity and mortality that increases with age and in the presence of liver comorbidities.
The DGS insists on the importance of necessarily reporting cases to the regional health agency Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ([email protected]), so that it initiates public health measures: search for risk exhibitions, identification of transmission channels, tracing around the case.
Vaccinal status verification
Vaccination remains an effective prevention measure, so health professionals are invited to verify the vaccination status and implement vaccination. According to the vaccine calendar, it is recommended for people traveling in endemic areas, men with sex with men (HSH), patients with cystic fibrosis and/or hepatobiliary pathology likely to evolve towards chronic hepatopathy, young disabled people welcomed in establishments and services for childhood, and children, born of families, one of the members (at least) from a country of high endemicity. The DGS adds that people in precarious situations and having difficulty accessing water are at risk. Without forgetting the professionals exposed to a risk of contamination, in crèches, collective reception structures for disabled people, wastewater treatment and sewer treatment services, food preparation in collective catering.
In the presence of a case of hepatitis has confirmed, vaccination must systematically be recommended for any person living under the same roof as a case (as soon as possible, and within a maximum period of fourteen days after the start of the symptoms of the index case).
Finally, in the context of cases of cases in the Rhône, laboratories must send the samples of cases to the National Reference Center (CNR) of hepatitis with enteric transmission (hepatitis a and e) so that a serotyping is made to identify possible transmission chains.
