Doctors double hepatitis A vaccinations amid rising infections

More than 112,000 people in Czechia have been vaccinated against hepatitis A this year — nearly twice as many as in 2024, the Health Ministry said. The Czech Medical Society of Jan Evangelista Purkyně considers the more than 1,800 reported cases this year — the second-highest number since 1989 — an epidemic. Experts say the main reason for the surge is low vaccination coverage and the loss of natural immunity after decades without a major outbreak. “Since the large 1979 epidemic linked to imported Polish strawberries, most of our population hasn’t been exposed to the virus,” said Pavel Dlouhý, head of the Infectious Diseases Society.