Hepatitis fulminante epidémica de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta I. Estudio de un brote en la localidad de Julio Zawady, Ciénaga, Magdalena Colombia

Abstract

During the period comprised between March to May, 1981, 3 out of 435 inhabitants of the locality of Julio Zawady. Cienaga county, Magdalena Departament, Colombia, died after a short febrile, acute and severe disease leading to hepatic comma. Another patient survived after 8 days illness. The histopathological diagnosis on the liver of the only autopsied case was of Fulminant Hepatitis. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Type. p Hepatitis A and B antigenic markers were studied in 71 apparently healthy people related and unrelated to the cases of the above mentioned and two others neighboring localities, as follows: 1. Ninety nine per cent of the tested sera were positive for anti-HA-Ag. 2. Thirty nine per cent were positive for HBsAg and/or HBeAg; the group of 5 to 9 years of age was positive in 53%. 3. Only 14 sera were tested for anti-HBeAg of which 78% were positive. It is then possible to suggest that the etiologic agent of the disease was the Hepatitis B virus. On the other hand, no relevant observations were found concerning the natural history of the disease and its relation to the macro or micro-enviromment. Finally it reamains unknwown why this virus behaves so aggressively and yields a high mortality rate.