Fulminant hepatitis A in indigenous children in north Queensland

Since 1993, three Indigenous children in north Queensland have died of fulm inant hepatitis A. Even if the children had been able to undergo liver tran splantation, prolonged immunosuppressant therapy and the likelihood of oppo rtunistic infections would inevitably have jeopardised any chance of long-t erm survival. As hepatitis A has become a leading infectious cause of death in young Indigenous children in north Queensland, hepatitis A vaccine has recently been introduced into the vaccination schedule for these children.