Document 0126
 DOCN  M95A0126
 TI    An outbreak of hepatitis A among homosexual men in Amsterdam, 1991-1993.
 DT    9510
 AU    Leentvaar-Kuijpers A; Kool JL; Veugelers PJ; Coutinho RA; van Griensven
       GJ; Municipal Health Service, Department of Public Health and;
       Environment, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
 SO    Int J Epidemiol. 1995 Feb;24(1):218-22. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/95317901
 AB    BACKGROUND. When in August 1992 it became evident that an outbreak of
       hepatitis A virus infections (HAV) was taking place in the male
       homosexual community in Amsterdam a case-control study was conducted to
       validate the assumption that the outbreak was associated with sexual
       practices involving oro-anal and digital-anal contact and frequent
       visits to gay saunas and darkrooms. METHODS. In all, 37 cases reported
       to the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service (AMHS) in the period December
       1991 to March 1993 and 68 anti-HAV negative controls completed an
       anonymous questionnaire concerning the practice of different sexual
       techniques and the number of visits to gay saunas and darkrooms in the 2
       months preceding the onset of illness or date of interview. Controls
       were recruited from healthy homosexual men participating in a
       prospective study on HIV/AIDS conducted by the AMHS. RESULTS. In
       univariate analysis a statistically significant association was found
       between visits to gay saunas and darkrooms, the number of visits to
       these locations (OR = 8.2) and HAV infection. In the logistic regression
       analysis the association for visits to saunas and darkrooms remained
       significant (OR = 10) whereas high-risk sexual techniques could not be
       included in the model. CONCLUSIONS. These results indicate that to
       prevent future outbreaks of HAV in male homosexuals in Amsterdam there
       is a need to stress in the 'safe sex' campaigns, directed at the
       prevention of HIV infection or in additional campaigns, the prevention
       of other sexually transmitted disease including HAV infection with
       emphasis on routes associated with certain sexual techniques and on
       visits to gay saunas and darkrooms.
 DE    Analysis of Variance  Baths, Finnish  Case-Control Studies  Comparative
       Study  *Disease Outbreaks  Hepatitis A/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION &
       CONTROL/TRANSMISSION  *Homosexuality, Male  Human  Logistic Models  Male
       Netherlands  Prospective Studies  Questionnaires  Risk Factors  JOURNAL
       ARTICLE

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