HEPATITIS-VIRUS INFECTIONS AND CLINICAL HEPATITIS - ITS FREQUENCY IN EUROPEANS RETURNING FROM THE TROPICS

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  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 110  (42) , 1514-1521
Abstract
Travelers'' hepatitis was investigated by comparing clinical and serological data. The histories of 876 persons examined after their return from tropical countries were analyzed for type, location and length of stay abroad, prophylactic administration of .gamma.-globulin and past hepatitis. In addition to clinical investigations, 528 of the patients underwent radioimmunoassays for hepatitis markers. HBs [hepatitis B surface] antigen was detected in 1.1%, anti-HBs antibodies in 14.2% and anti-HA [hepatitis A] antibodies in 37.3% of the patients. The prevalence of anti-HA antibodies increased with age, but the mean value for those over 20 yr was only 8% above the mean for the corresponding age groups of Swiss residents. Significant differences in prevalence of anti-HA antibodies were only observed in persons who had stayed in the tropics for more than 5 yr. The prevalence of hepatitis B markers was 2-3 times higher in persons returning from the tropics than in volunteer Swiss blood donors and was not related to age or to length of stay abroad. Patient''s histories and serological tests revealed a high frequency of inapparent infections, i.e., 74% of hepatitis A and 88% of hepatitis B infections. Acute viral hepatitis was newly diagnosed in 17 of the 2032 tropical patients who were seen during 1979. The yearly incidence of hepatitis in this population was thus 8.5%, which is about 10 times higher than that estimated for the Swiss population as a whole. Only 5 of the 17 cases showed hepatitis type A. One third of the cases were anicteric. The importance of non-A hepatitis among travelers is clearly shown. Questions arise as to the prophylactic use of .gamma.-globulin and the epidemiology of traveler''s hepatitis.