Serological Markers of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Healthy Volunteer Blood Donors in Campania (Southern Italy)

Abstract
The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers was determined in a prospective fashion by radioimmunoassay in 2084 healthy volunteer blood donors. In the 51.2% of the donors who were positive for at least 1 marker, the percentage of occurrence of each marker was: HBsAg [hepatitis B surface antigen] 5.3, anti-HBs [antibody to HBsAg] alone 1.7, anti-HBc [antibody to hepatitis B core antigen] alone 10.8, anti-HBs and anti-HBc 333.3. Because of the size of the problem this investigation strongly demands further studies on the potential role of blood positive for anti-HBc in transmitting HBV infection in this geographical area.