THE PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODY TO HEPATITIS A ANTIGEN IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

Szmuness, W. (New York Blood Center, 310 E. 67th Street, New York, NY 10021), J. L. Dlenstag, R. H. Purcell, C. E. Stevens, D. C. Wong, H. Ikram, S. Bar-Shany, R. P. Beasley, J. Desmyter and J. A. Gaon. The prevalence of antibody to hepatitis A antigen in various parts of the world: A pilot study. Am J Epidemiol 106:392–398, 1977. Samples of blood donors and patients with non-liver diseases from six foreign countries and the USA (1297 subjects) were surveyed for antibody to hepatitis A antigen (anti-HA) by immune adherence hemaggiutinatlon and for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) by AUSAB. The age-standardized anti-HA prevalence was 28.7% In Switzerland, 44.7% In the USA, 76.2% In Senegal, 81.1% In Belgium, 88.7% in Taiwan, 95.3% in Israel and 96.9% in Yugoslavia. Among subjects 18–19 years of age only 5–10% of Swiss and Americans had anti-HA, whereas 92–100% of subjects in the same age group from Israel, Yugoslavia, Taiwan and Senegal had this antibody. A close correlation between anti-HA and anti-HBs prevalence was seen in five countries; however, in Belgium and Israel anti-HBs rates were low while anti-HA rates were very high. This survey confirmed that hepatitis A virus infections are widespread throughout the world and that their occurrence and age-distribution are determined to a large extent by environmental and socioeconomic conditions, although other, as yet unidentified, factors are probably also important. In view of the unrepresentative nature of the population samples surveyed, these findings should be confirmed on other samples.