Cases of hepatitis A have fallen by 76 percent in the United States since children in communities with the highest rates of the disease were targeted for vaccination in recent years, a study said on Tuesday. In the 1980s and 1990s, 26,000 cases of hepatitis A were reported to public health officials each year, a fraction of the cases that probably occurred but were not reported because many victims do not have symptoms, the study said, according to Reuters. More than half of the estimated infections of the disease -- which can cause flu-like symptoms and jaundice -- occurred in children, the study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Hepatitis is a viral infection that attacks the liver. There are several varieties, and type A is considered less threatening than some others that can cause liver failure and death. Hepatitis A is spread by fecal contamination of water and food. A highly effective hepatitis A vaccine became available in the United States for children age 2 or older in 1995, according to the report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association. --More 2300 Local Time 2000 GMT
