Acute Hepatitis Occured among Residing Japanese in Suez area, Egypt

Out of 201 residing Japanese people in Suez area, Egypt, 7 people developed hepatitis sporadically from August 1976 to February 1977. These cases showed a typical clinical picture and course of acute viral hepatitis and it was suspected to be acute hepatitis type A from the serological investigation of hepatitis type A and type B. The route of infection was supposed to be from the intake of contaminated food owing to their living environment and occupational conditions. The infected patients were males aged from 20 to 32 with an average age of 25. The frequency ratio of the sample cases classified by their ages to the population was 6.1% in the 20's, 1.6% in the 30's and 0% above 40 years of age. Their residing periods up to the onset of the disease were 63 days at the shortest and 354 days at the longest with an average of 242 days. The tropical and sub-tropical areas are regarded as wide-spread areas of hepatitis virus type A. The risk degree of infection and morbidity of the residing Japanese people in these districts differ according to such factors as age, occupation, hygiene and environment. Taking these facts in consideration, we must consider preventive measures as soon as possible.