Serological Markers forHepatitis TypesAandB AmongU.S.ArmySoldiers, Germany

Viral hepatitis rates amongU.S.Army soldiers inEurope havebeenfound tobetwotothree times higher thancorresponding rates forsoldiers sta- tioned intheU.S.Serafrom89percentofarepresen- tative Armyunit with865members andaknownhepa- titis problem weretested forHBsAg,anti-HBs, anti- HBc,andanti-HA. Theprevalence ofHB markers was20percent, andhepatitis A antibody waspresent Anincreased risk forviral hepatitis amongU.S.Army personnel stationed inEuropehaspreviously beendocu- mented'. From1973through 1977,reported caserates amongthese overseas soldiers havebeenapproximately three times themagnitude ofthose recorded amongtheir United States-based counterparts.* Theelevated hepatitis ratefound amongU.S.soldiers stationed inEuropehasbeenprimarily attributed toanin- creased incidence oftypeB infection which, inturn, has beenassociated withthewidespread useofillicit drugs.1 3-5 However, limited serodiagnostic capability hasnotpermit- tedanaccurate assessment oftheactual contributions ofA, B,andnon-A, non-Binfections totheoverall viral hepatitis problem. Although ithasbeenpostulated that upto70per- centofall cases aresecondary totypeBinfection' ourown review ofallhepatitis cases records for1975through 1977 (4,650 cases) amongU.S.Armypersonnel stationed inEu-