Epidemiological features of virus hepatitis in the Russian Army.

The last decade of the 20th century was characterized by the improvement of the virus hepatitis (VH) in diagnosis system, on the one hand, and by the change in the VH etiologic structure, on the other hand. This was due to the influence of several processes: the ongoing decrease of hepatitis A (HA) morbidity rate in most regions, the increase of hepatitis B (HB) morbidity, the introduction of methods for hepatitis C (HC) diagnosing and reporting, the emergence and progressive increase of VH number with combined etiology, the improvement of diagnosing and reporting of chronic VH. Analogous processes occurred similarly in the Armed Forces (AF) of Russia. Thus, VH in the army has definite epidemiologic features. It must be taken into account not only by military healthworkers but by civil specialists as well. This can be of critical importance when operating under extreme conditions.