Hepatitis B virus infection in upper and lower Egypt

✍ Scribed by Mohamed M. Sherif; Badawy A. S. Abou-Aita; Mohamed H. Abou-Elew; Ahmed O. M. M. El-Kafrawi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 345 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890150205

✦ Synopsis

The relative prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBs, and anti-hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBc), as markers of hepatitis B virus infection, among 1,866 apparently healthy residents of two Egyptian provinces representing Upper and Lower Egypt populations was determined using solid-phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA).

The prevalence rate of HBsAg in the Egyptian population was moderately high (10.1 %); it was higher in the Upper Egypt (11.7%) than the Lower Egypt (8.0%) population and more frequent in young adults-especially those of Upper Egyptand males than females in both populations. The prevalence of anti-HBs gradually increased with age; it was higher in the Lower Egypt (51.1 %) than the Upper Egypt (41.7%) population, and it was higher in females than males. A remarkably high infection rate, as shown by the prevalence of anti-HBc, was found in both populations (88.0%), with minor variations depending on age, sex, and geographic area.