Guerrero-Vadillo, MaríaPeñuelas, MarinaDomínguez, AngelaGodoy, PereGomez-Barroso, DianaSoldevila, NúriaIzquierdo, ConchitaMartínez, AnaTorner, NúriaAvellón, AnaRius, CristinaVarela Martinez, Maria del Carmen2023-04-192023-04-192022-12-14Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 14;19(24):16775.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/15851The aim of our study was to describe the results of the epidemiological surveillance of hepatitis A infections in Spain in the context of the 2016/2017 European outbreak, particularly of hepatitis A outbreaks reported in the MSM population, incorporating the results of a spatio-temporal analysis of cases. Hepatitis A cases and outbreaks reported in 2016-2017 to the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network were reviewed: outbreaks in which some of the cases belonged to the MSM group were described, and clusters of hepatitis A cases in men and women were analysed using a space-time scan statistic. Twenty-six outbreaks were identified, with a median size of two cases per outbreak, with most of the outbreak-related cases belonging to the 15-44 years-old group. Nearly 85% occurred in a household setting, and in all outbreaks, the mode of transmission was direct person-to-person contact. Regarding space-time analysis, twenty statistically significant clusters were identified in the male population and eight in the female population; clusters in men presented a higher number of observed cases and affected municipalities, as well as a higher percentage of municipalities classified as large urban areas. The elevated number of cases detected in clusters of men indicates that the number of MSM-related outbreaks may be higher than reported, showing that spatio-temporal analysis is a complementary, useful tool which may improve the detection of outbreaks in settings where epidemiological investigation may be more challenging.engVoRhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Hepatitis A virusEpidemiological surveillanceMSMOutbreaksSpace-time clusteringUrban populationHepatitis AAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleYoung AdultDisease OutbreaksHomosexuality, MaleSpainAtribución 4.0 Internacional3655466619241677510.3390/ijerph1924167751660-4601International journal of environmental research and public healthopen access