Studies on Sashima Hepatitis (infectious hepatitis)

—Analysis of the epidemiological phenomena in the late stages of prevalence—

Abstract

Sashima hepatitis, a frequently occurring infectious hepatitis due to regional contamination, has given rise to many interesting problems in epidemiological and clinical aspects. The author has clarified the epidemiological pictures mainly in patients appearing in the late stages of the epidemic. Based on the mode of appearance of new patients, these results indicated a continuous contamination of a secondary and teriary nature, but on liver biopsies, the number of new cases each year and the degree of liver injury based mainly on the S-GPT values in a healthy group in the area, many of the new patients appearing in the late stages of the epidemic were found to have chronic hepatitis. This would explain the absence of milder changes in the clinical picture in patients appearing in the late stages despite the protracted epidemic. The reason for the absence of spread of the hepatitis in this outbreak to surrounding areas was also clarified.