Viral hepatitis E during offshore deployment -A case report

Abstract

A 20-year-old young serving sailor presented with a two day history of loss of appetite, mild grade fever and yellow discoloration of both eyes and urine, while sailing, off the home port. He had icterus and tender Grade I hepatomegaly and was provisionally diagnosed as a case of clinical jaundice. As there was no facility for investigation on board, the severity of jaundice, as well as the type of infection were not known. The patient was isolated in a separate compartment and universal precautions were taken for the nursing members. Proper handwashing, chlorination of the water tanks, boiling of drinking water for the ships' company and disinfection procedures for the sick bay were followed. The crew was educated on reporting to the sick bay whenever any signs or symptoms of jaundice appear in them. After five days, the sailor was referred to a tertiary care hospital when the ship reached the nearest port. He was found to be having high bilirubin level and his liver enzymes and PT/INR were deranged. He was positive for Hepatitis E. Prompt control measures undertaken by the Medical Officer of the ship ensured that there were no other cases of jaundice reporting from the ship.

Keywords

• Deployment
• Hepatitis E
• Navy
• sailing
• submarine
• warship