American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 153, No. 8 : 764-770
Copyright © 2001 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Prevalence and Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the US Military: A Seroepidemiologic Survey of 21,000 Troops
1 Epidemiology Department, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD.
2 Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense–Health Affairs, the Pentagon, Washington, DC.
3 Army Medical Surveillance Activity, US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Washington, DC.
4 Hepatitis Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
5 Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD.
6 Department of Gastroenterology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC.
Because of a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (10–20%) among veterans seeking care in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, current US military forces were evaluated for HCV infection. Banked serum samples were randomly selected from military personnel serving in 1997 and were tested for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV). Overall prevalence of anti-HCV among 10,000 active-duty personnel was 0.48% (5/1,000 troops); prevalence increased with age from 0.1% among military recruits and active-duty personnel aged <30 years to 3.0% among troops aged 
40 years. Prevalence among 2,000 Reservists and active-duty troops was similar. Based on sequential serum samples from 7,368 active-duty personnel (34,020 person-years of observation), annual incidence of infection was 2/10,000. Of 81 HCV RNA-positive troops for whom genotype was determined, genotypes 1a (63%) and 1b (22%) predominated, as in the civilian population. These data indicate that HCV infection risk among current military forces is lower than in VA studies and the general civilian population aged <40 years. The low level of HCV infection may be attributed to infrequent injection drug use in the military due to mandatory testing for illicit drugs prior to induction and throughout military service.
hepatitis; hepatitis C; hepatitis C antibodies; hepatitis C, chronic; hepatitis, viral, human; hepatitis viruses; military medicine; substance abuse, intravenous
Abbreviations: anti-HCV, antibody to hepatitis C virus; CI, confidence interval; DoD, US Department of Defense; EIA, enzyme immunoassay; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; RIBA, recombinant immunoblot assay; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.
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