Seroepidemiological study on hepatitis delta virus infection in the Irabu Islands, Okinawa, Japan.

A seroepidemiological study was performed to clarify the prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection among the general population in the Irabu islands, Okinawa, Japan. Of 2028 healthy people examined who had received their annual health check-up in 1994-95, 195 (9.6%) were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Of these 195 HBsAg-positive individuals, 46 (23.6%) showed a positive reaction for antibody to HDV (anti-HDV). The positivity rate of anti-HDV among HBsAg-positive subjects tended to increase with age up to 50-59 years of age. The prevalence of anti-HDV also varied among the seven districts in the islands (0-63.3%). None of the anti-HDV-positive subjects was included in the high risk group for parenterally transmitted diseases. The unusually high prevalence of anti-HDV among HBsAg-positive individuals, particularly in the older age groups, seemed to reflect the natural prevalence or previous HDV infection, rather than a current or imported infection of HDV. Although the great majority of HBsAg-positive subjects with anti-HDV were asymptomatic, abnormally high values of serum transaminases were more frequently seen in these subjects compared with HBsAg-positive subjects without anti-HDV.

[AIDS control in industry in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan].

To see how industry is responding to AIDS, an anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted on member companies (n = 407) of the chamber of commerce with 50 or more employees in three large cities in Okinawa, during February to March, 1994. Responses were obtained from 221. The questionnaire looked at type of industry, number of employees, number of business trips to foreign countries, specialists for health management, AIDS control, attitudes and actions taken toward infected persons and AIDS patients, etc. The main results were as follows; In 73 companies foreign business trips had been made. The rate of appointment of specialists in health management was below 50%. In 80% of the companies, AIDS control was not in place. About 1/2 of the companies responded that there was a need to grapple with AIDS control while 40% of the companies were undecided. The majority of the companies felt that there was no chance of their employees having HIV infection within five or six years. Many companies had no regulations for dealing with employees who are infected with HIV. From the survey, three points were made clear: 1. Industry does not have an adequate plan to deal with AIDS. 2. There is no awareness of a crisis. 3. There is insufficient dissemination of information regarding AIDS. HIV/AIDS is predicted to increase in industries in our country and management will be hard-pressed to deal with the intricate problems that arise. HIV/AIDS is not exclusively an individual problem, but should be the concern of industries and society as well.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[A case-control study of risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage in Hirara-City, Okinawa Prefecture].

While the mortality rate of cerebral hemorrhage of Okinawa Prefecture is the lowest in Japan, the presence of a high incidence rate for cerebral hemorrhage has been pointed out in Hirara-city, Okinawa Prefecture. In order to develop an effective counter-measure, a case-control study of risk factors for cerebral hemorrhage was performed. Cases were 62 residents in Hirara city aged 40-69 years who had experienced cerebral hemorrhage between April 1987 through March 1992. From the 62 cases interviewed, responses were obtained from 49 cases. Controls were 147 residents without a history of stroke who were matched to cases individually by sex and age (control/case ratio = 3). From the 49 cases, 28 cases who had participated in residential mass health examinations before experiencing the cerebral hemorrhage, were matched individually sex and age with different randomly selected controls (control/case ratio = 10). From conditional logistic regression analysis of the interview survey data, history of hypertension, interruption of hypertension therapy, family history of stroke, long working hours, overwork and difficulty of taking a day-off each week were strongly related to increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage. Smoking, preference for salty taste and habitual drinking, also, elevated risk slightly. From analysis of the residential mass health examination data, high blood pressure was found to be strongly associated with cerebral hemorrhage, while serum cholesterol was inversely related.