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OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF HEPATITIS B INFECTION IN THE ABORIGINAL POPULATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Author(s) -
HOLMAN C. D. J.,
QUADROS C. F.,
BUCENS M. R.,
REID P. M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1987.tb00113.x
Subject(s) - hbsag , medicine , serology , hepatitis b , population , hepatitis b virus , demography , prevalence , confidence interval , hepatitis , immunology , epidemiology , antibody , virus , environmental health , sociology
In 1986, the prevalences of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and other serological markers of infection with hepatitis B virus in the Western Australian adult Aboriginal population, were estimated using a stratified random sample of 1 150 subjects. When the estimates were standardised to the age and sex distribution of the total population of aborigines aged 12 years or over, the prevalence of HBsAg was 7% (95% confidence interval 6–9%). The prevalence of any marker, that is HBsAg andlor hepatitis surface antibody (anti‐HBs), was 49% (44–54%). The follow‐up blood specimens obtained from three‐fifths of the antigenemic subjects indicated that 96% (88–99%) were hepatitis B carriers. Male subjects had twice the prevalence of HBsAg (10%; 7–13%) when compared with females (4%; 3–6%). However, there was only a modest elevation of the prevalence of any marker in men (53%) compared with women (46%). There was evidence that the prevalence of HBsAg increased with age, but this was not the case with any marker. Geographically, there was substantial variation in hepatitis B infection rates. The Eastern Goldfields region had the highest prevalence (HBsAg 12%; any marker 66%), followed by the Kimberley, Pilbara and Central regions (HBsAg 74%; any marker 56–59%). The lowest rates were evident in Perth and the South West (HBsAg 3–5%; any marker 23–25%). The highest prevalence of markers in any discrete community was observed in the desert people of Warburton (HBsAg 22%; any marker 85%). These data indicate that, according to World Health Organisation criteria, the aboriginal population of Western Australia has an intermediate to high risk of infection with hepatitis B. (Aust NZ J Med 1987; 17: 518–525).