SERUM ANTIBODY TO LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE ANTIGENS OF SHIGELLA SPECIES AMONG US MILITARY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED TO SAUDI-ARABIA AND KUWAIT DURING OPERATIONS DESERT-SHIELD AND DESERT-STORM

During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, U.S. troops were at high risk of diarrheal disease due to Shigella spp., particularly Shig ella sonnei. In order to better understand the serologic response to S higella infection, 830 male U.S. combat troops were evaluated before a nd after the deployment to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG anti-Shigella lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (antibody to S. sonnei form I and Shigella flexneri serotypes 1a, 2a, and 3a) in seru m. Just before deployment, 103% of the subjects were seropositive for IgA and 18.3% were positive for IgG anti-Shigella LPS. IgA and IgG ant i-LPS antibody levels in serum prior to deployment were significantly associated with nonwhite race and ethnicity, birth outside the United States, and antibody to hepatitis A virus and Helicobacter pylori. Dur ing the deployment, which lasted for a mean of 131 days, 60% of the su bjects reported at least one episode of diarrhea and 15% reported an e pisode of diarrhea with feverishness; also, 5.5% of the subjects exhib ited IgA seroconversion to Shigella LPS and 14.0% exhibited IgG seroco nversion, A significant association between the development of diarrhe al symptoms and either positive predeployment anti-LPS antibody or ser oconversion was not found, These data indicate that in this population of U.S. Desert Storm troops,who were at high risk of Shigella infecti on, there was no apparent relation between IgA or IgG anti-Shigella LP S in serum and diarrheal disease.