Factores de riesgo asociados a infección aguda por hepatitis B en población militar destacada al departamento de Amazonas, Perú

César Cabezas; J. Jaime Miranda; Giovana Romero; Magna Suárez; Frine Samalvides; Juan Echevarría; Juan D. Valdivia; Walter A. Valdivia

doi:10.17843/rpmesp.2007.244.1136

Authors

César Cabezas Instituto Nacional de Salud. Lima, Perú. Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Daniel A Carrión”, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Lima, Perú. Médico infectólogo.
J. Jaime Miranda Facultad de Medicina “Alberto Hurtado”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. London, UK (Afiliación actual). Médico epidemiológo.
Giovana Romero Instituto Nacional de Salud. Lima, Perú. Bióloga.
Magna Suárez Instituto Nacional de Salud. Lima, Perú. Bióloga.
Frine Samalvides Facultad de Medicina “Alberto Hurtado”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. London, UK (Afiliación actual). Médico infectólogo.
Juan Echevarría Facultad de Medicina “Alberto Hurtado”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. London, UK (Afiliación actual). Médico infectólogo.
Juan D. Valdivia Facultad de Medicina “Alberto Hurtado”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico cirujano.
Walter A. Valdivia Facultad de Medicina “Alberto Hurtado”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú. Médico cirujano.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2007.244.1136

Keywords:

Hepatitis B, Hepatitis Delta, Military personnel, Case-control studies, Amazonian, Perú

Abstract

Peru is considered a mid-high endemic country for viral hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its prevalence varies between regions. There is limited reported data of the problem of HBV infection in rural areas and military personnel. Objective. We evaluated risk factors associated with an increased risk of HBV infection in an outbreak among military personnel deployed in the rainforest region of Ampama, Amazonas, Peru. Material and methods. Case-control study amongst soldiers placed in Ampama post and El Milagro base. HBsAg and potential family, personal, hygiene and sanitation and specific risk factors for the area were evaluated. Results. A total of 123 male military personnel, 41 in each group (cases, control group 1 and control group 2) were included in the study. 73.2% of cases had confirmed HBV acute infection (IgM anti-HBc positive) and delta antibody was positive in 1/37 (2.7%) of the cases. None of the traditional risk factors showed a significant association with hepatitis B. Some risk factors with borderline association were contact with someone sick due to hepatitis B (OR 2.3, 95%IC 0.9 – 5.7) and bat bites (OR 1.6, 95%CI 0.6 – 4.4). Conclusions. The outbreak described was due to HBV and classical risk factors did not show an association with hepatitis B in this study. Military personnel are a risk group to develop HBV infection and HBV continues to be an important problem in these areas.