Incidence and prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus in FDNY first responders before and after work at the World Trade Center disaster site

Mayris P Webber; Yang Liu; Hillel W Cohen; Theresa Schwartz; Michael D Weiden; Kerry Kelly; Viola Ortiz; Rachel Zeig-Owens; Nadia Jaber; Hilary L Colbeth; David J Prezant

doi:10.1002/ajim.22871

Incidence and prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus in FDNY first responders before and after work at the World Trade Center disaster site

Am J Ind Med. 2018 Jun 20. doi: 10.1002/ajim.22871. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mayris P Webber^{1

2}, Yang Liu², Hillel W Cohen¹, Theresa Schwartz², Michael D Weiden², Kerry Kelly², Viola Ortiz², Rachel Zeig-Owens^{1

2}, Nadia Jaber², Hilary L Colbeth², David J Prezant^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
² Fire Department of the City of New York, Bureau of Health Services, Brooklyn, New York.
³ Pulmonology Division, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.

PMID: 29923604
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22871

Abstract

Background: The goals of this study were to assess the impact of work at the World Trade Center (WTC) site in relation to new, post-9/11/2001 (9/11) antibody to hepatitis C Virus (anti-HCV); and, evaluate secular trends in WTC-exposed male Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responders.

Methods: FDNY monitors responder health through physical exams and routine blood work. We used descriptive statistics to compare trans-9/11 and post-9/11 incidence and to assess trends in prevalence from 2000 to 2012.

Results: Trans-9/11 incidence of new anti-HCV was 0.42 per 100 persons compared with post-9/11 incidence of 0.34 (P = 0.68). Overall seroprevalence was 1.3%; rates declined from 1.79 per 100 to 0.49 per 100 over time (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Work at the WTC was not associated with new infection. Biennial seroprevalence in responders declined over time, supporting the FDNY decision to discontinue routine annual testing in this cohort.

Keywords: World Trade Center; firefighters; hepatitis C; incidence; prevalence.