Hepatitis A hospitalisations in the United States and risk factors for inpatient mortality: A nationwide population study, 1998–2020

Hepatitis A virus infections in the United States have been declining; however, recent widespread outbreaks have brought the disease back into the spotlight. We aim to describe the epidemiology of hepatitis A hospitalisations from 1998 to 2020 in the United States and investigate risk factors for inpatient mortality. We utilised the National Inpatient Sample database and identified hepatitis A‐related hospitalisations using ICD‐9 and ICD‐10 diagnosis codes. Demographic and clinical data including death, coinfections, comorbidities and pregnancy status were extracted. Data were analysed by logistic and Poisson regression. We identified a total of 213,681 hepatitis A‐related hospitalisations between 1998 and 2020, with hospitalisation rates ranging between 22.4 per 1,000,000 and 62.9 per 1,000,000. Between 1998 and 2015, the hospitalisation rate for hepatitis A was decreasing (IRR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97–0.98; p