Acute dermatitis from oak processionary caterpillars in a U.S. military community in Germany.

One hundred sixty-five soldiers and civilians from the U.S. military community in Heidelberg, Germany, sought treatment for acute dermatitis from June 26 through July 2, 1995. This was 144 more than the expected number of 21 cases based on a background rate of 3 cases per day. Cases consisted of individuals who presented with a painful, itching rash distributed widely about the body but concentrated in the upper half. Urticarial hairs from oak processionary caterpillars (Thaumetopoea processionea L.) (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae) were eventually identified as the cause. This article is the first published report that documents the military medical importance of these caterpillars in Europe. The implications and measures needed to resolve future outbreaks quickly and effectively are discussed.

A military community outbreak of hepatitis type A related to transmission in a child care facility.

An outbreak of hepatitis type A occurred among military personnel and dependents on a military post in Anchorage, Alaska, August 1976-April 1977. One hundred sixteen clinical cases of hepatitis were identified over a nine-month-period. Ninety-six per cent of those cases that were tested demonstrated IgM antibody to hepatitis A virus. A large child care facility was implicated as a major focus of hepatitis virus transmission. Sixty-four (55%) of the cases were directly or indirectly linked to the child care facility. The length of time that a child spent at the facility appeared to increase the child's risk of developing hepatitis and the risk of his transmitting the hepatitis A virus to other members of the immediate household.

An epidemiologic study of hepatitis B virus in Bangkok, Thailand.

Residents of a randomly selected sample of households in a low-income housing project in Bangkok were studied between July 1971 and April 1972. Prevalence of hepatitis B antigen (HBs Ag) in July 1971 was 8.2% in 697 persons age one year and older and changed little with age. Prevalence of antibody to HBs Ag (anti-HBs) was much higher in all age groups and was 46% overall. The prevalence of HBs Ag was higher in males than females from ages 10-29 years and the prevalence of anti-HBs was higher in males up to age 60. The HBV (combined HBs Ag and anti-HBs) age prevalence distribution in July 1971 revealed that over 20% of the children 1-4 years of age had serologic evidence of infection and that the prevalence rose rapidly with age reaching a plateau between 60-70% after age 15. During the nine months of serologic surveillance 13% of individuals acquired either HBs Ag or anti-HBs and 7% lost serologic evidence of HBV infection. The study data suggest that most HBs Ag positive persons are long-term antigen carriers, that their numbers and spatial distribution may be sufficient to account for the wide-spread transmission of HBV in this population, that close person-to-person contact with carriers is probably the most important mode of HBV transmission, and that the susceptibility to becoming an HBs Ag carrier is probably genetically determined.