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ACUTE HEPATITIS B IN A METROPOLITAN POPULATION
Author(s) -
McCaughan G. W.,
Gallagher N. D.,
Parsons C.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1979.tb104134.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis , hepatitis b , population , hepatitis b virus , narcotic , substance abuse , chronic hepatitis , acute hepatitis b , virus , immunology , surgery , psychiatry , environmental health , hbsag
One hundred and fifty‐three patients with acute hepatitis B infection over a four‐year period have been reviewed. They were predominantly young males (60%) with a mild illness. There was no indication of the source of the infection in 56 patients (36%), while 52 patients (34%) had a history of intravenous narcotic abuse. Twenty‐five patients were hospital staff members, while the remainder had known environmental associations with the hepatitis B virus. Eight of the 80 patients who were followed up for longer than six months had persistent hepatitis B surface antigenaemia, and evidence of progression to chronic hepatitis.