Risk of viral hepatitis among military personnel assigned to US Navy ships.
A prevalence study of 2072 male US shipboard military personnel scheduled for deployment to South America/West Africa and the Mediterranean was conducted to determine whether serologic evidence of prior hepatitis A, B, or C infection is associated with exposure in foreign countries. There were 210 subjects (10.1%) who had antibodies to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV), 76 (3.7%) to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), and 9 (0.4%) to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). By multivariate analysis, anti-HAV seropositivity was independently associated with age, non-white racial/ethnic groups, birth outside of the United States, and prior Caribbean deployment for less than 1 year. Anti-HBc seropositivity was independently associated with black and Filipino race/ethnicity, foreign birth, a history of a sexually transmitted disease, South Pacific/Indian Ocean deployment (less than 12 months), and South Pacific or Mediterranean duty for (greater than 1 year). No geographic risk factors were associated with anti-HCV positivity. These data indicate that military personnel deployed outside the United States are at increased risk of viral hepatitis infection and should be considered for vaccination.
Hawkins
R E
RE
Department of Internal Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Maryland.
Malone
J D
JD
Cloninger
L A
LA
Rozmajzl
P J
PJ
Lewis
D
D
Butler
J
J
Cross
E
E
Gray
S
S
Hyams
K C
KC
D000328:Adult; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D009326:Naval Medicine; D012307:Risk Factors; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies