Hepatitis virus infection in flying airline personnel

Sera of 1126 flying personnel of an airline were tested for signs of ongoing or past infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or with hepatitis A virus (HAV). The prevalence of anti-HA antibodies was similar in all professional categories of flying personnel and the same or slightly lower than in Swiss blood donors. The frequency of immune markers identifying HBV immunity was similar in pilots, flight-engineers, and female flight attendants compared to Swiss blood donors. However, HBV immunity was clearly more prevalent in male flight attendants. Within 1 year, 13 of 2624 flying personnel had acute hepatitis. This higher-than-average incidence of hepatitis amongst flying personnel compared to the Swiss population was mainly due to a high incidence of hepatitis B amongst male flight attendants. Their special life-styles might be responsible for the high prevalence of HBV immunity and for the high incidence of hepatitis B.