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Prevalence of hepatitis A virus infection among sewage workers in Georgia
Author(s) -
Venczel Linda,
Brown Stuart,
Frumkin Howard,
SimmondsDiaz Jorge,
Deitchman Scott,
Bell Beth P.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10174
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis a , odds ratio , environmental health , population , demography , crew , hepatitis , immunology , aeronautics , sociology , engineering
Background Wastewater (WW) workers could have opportunity for direct contact with raw sewage, which might contain hepatitis A virus (HAV). Methods A serologic survey of WW workers and a comparison population of roads and drainage workers (RD). Factors potentially associated with anti‐HAV positivity were evaluated in univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Among the 365 WW workers, overall anti‐HAV prevalence was 38%, similar to that (35%) of the 166 RD workers ( P = 0.5). Prevalence varied by wastewater job type from 45% among the 164 field crew workers to 32% among the 201 treatment plant workers. In multivariate modeling, factors associated with anti‐HAV positivity included age ≥ 40 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.6–3.7), black compared to other races (OR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.5–3.8), birth outside the United States (OR = 7.5; 95% CI = 3.0–18.6), a high school education or less (OR 2.1; 95% CI = 1.4–3.2) and work on the field crew compared to RD work (OR 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1–2.4). Conclusions These results are consistent with no or a small increased risk of hepatitis A among WW workers, and do not provide a clear mandate for hepatitis A vaccination of these workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 43: 172–178, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.