Risk of hepatitis A virus infection among sewage workers in Israel

Sewage workers are exposed to a wide range of chemicals and biological agen ts, including the hepatitis A virus. Inasmuch as Israel is an endemic area for hepatitis A, it is unclear if sewage workers are at increased risk for hepatitis A or which factors contribute to such risk. The authors compared seropositivity of hepatitis A in 100 sewage workers with that in 100 blue-c ollar worker controls. Hepatitis A seropositivity was highly prevalent, but nonsignificant, in both sewage workers and controls (82% and 91%, respecti vely). In sewage workers, the major risk for serological positivity was age (odds ratio = 4.5, 95% confidence interval = 1.6, 12.4 for every 10 y). Th e factors associated negatively with seropositivity were years of education and years of seniority. The authors concluded that exposure to sewage is n ot a risk factor for hepatitis A infection in Israel, and, therefore, sewag e workers do not require special attention in this regard.