Prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis separately in the flight crew and office staff of an airline company in 2008

Herpes labialis is important in dentistry because of its high prevalence. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is responsive to treatment and infection control methods help protect patients and dental personnel. Due to high levels of stress in the flight crew this study evaluated the prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis in the personnel of an airline company. In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, 63 personnel of an airline company referring to the company’s dental facility in 2008 were selected. Questionnaire forms containing demographic data (age, sex, etc) and clinical evaluations were arranged. Then the relevant data was gathered with the questionnaires and clinical examinations. Data was analyzed with chi-squared test and t-test (α=0.05). Overall prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis was 39.68% in the two groups under study. Of 63 questionnaires filled out 31 were related to the office staff and 32 to the flight crew. The highest prevalence of recurrent herpes labialis was observed in the flight crew (68%). Only 32% of the office staff had recurrent herpes labialis. Therefore, there was a statistically significant relationship between the two groups (p value < 0.05). The results of the chi-squared test showed that the flight crew who had higher stress levels had higher prevalence rates of recurrent herpes labialis. Under the limits of this study, it was concluded that flight crew had higher prevalence rates of recurrent herpes labialis compared to the office staff.