Strategy for hepatitis A seroprevalence survey in a population of young people.

In the present research a novel operative strategy of health surveillance with a reduced number of serologic tests is proposed. The approach consists to identify sub-populations with high predictable serological profile that makes the serological tests unnecessary. The study is focused on assays done to detect the response against hepatitis A, which in Italy displays low/intermediate endemicity. Receiver operating characteristics analysis performed on data from documented and self-reported vaccination information of a cohort of students from Padua University Medical School confirmed that anti-hepatitis A antibodies measurement might be avoided in subjects younger than 30 years with negative documented or self-reported history of vaccination or subjected to current vaccination schedule.