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The Prevalence of Hepatitis‐B Antigen (HBsAg) and Its Antibody (ANTI‐HBs) Among London Hemophiliacs and Blood Donors from London and Two Tropical Areas
Author(s) -
Islam M.N.,
Banatvala J. E.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1046/j.1537-2995.1976.16376225495.x
Subject(s) - cryoprecipitate , medicine , hbsag , titer , antibody , hepatitis b , immunology , virology , hepatitis b virus , virus , platelet
The prevalence of hepatitis‐B antigen (HB s AG) and its antibody (anti‐HB s ) among 49 London hemophiliacs was compared with that among women attending an antenatal clinic and healthy blood donors from London and from two parts of the tropics (Mauritius and Zambia). The prevalence of HB s Ag and anti‐HB s was low in antenatal patients, London blood donors and blood donors from Mauritius. However, a high proportion of hemophiliacs (59%) were anti‐HB s positive, this being comparable with Zambian blood donors (53%), although anti‐HB s titers in hemophiliacs were much higher (GMT 1:342) than in Zambian blood donors (GMT 1:36). In contrast, HB s Ag was detected in 29 of 250 (12%) Zambian donors but in only 3 of 49 (6%) hemophiliacs. Clinically overt hepatitis occurred in only two hemophiliacs. However, the presence of HB s Ag‐specific IgM in 7 of 29 (24%) anti‐HBs‐positive hemophiliacs suggests that a proportion of these patients recently experienced subclinical infection by hepatitis‐B virus, Anti‐HB s ‐positive hemophiliacs received a significantly higher number of cryoprecipitate units than did those without anti‐HB s (P < 0.01). Five of seven hemophiliacs with high titers of anti‐HB s (> 1: 4,096) showed a decline in titer after 1972 which may have been associated with the introduction of screening of cryoprecipitate for HB s Ag.