Viral hepatitis markers in Thai blood donors

An overview of hepatitis B serology screening check-up program among Thai workers

In Thailand, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is hyperendemic; approximately 5 million Thais are chronic HBV carriers. Here, an overview of hepatitis B serology among Thai workers who got the screening check-up program of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during January 1998 to December 2000 is reported. The data from hepatitis B serology examinations of 650 Thai workers who visited the Out-Patient Division, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during the study period for the screening program before starting work was analyzed. Among the subjects examined, 107 were HBsAg-, anti-HBc-; 64 were HBsAg+, anti-HBc+; and 479 were HBsAg-, anti-HBc+. Not unexpectedly, in the present study, the rate of chronic hepatitis B infection among the subjects is high (9.8%). Screening for parasitic infection among this population can help decrease the development of late complications as well as rejection of laborers by their employers.

How medical students in their pre-clinical year perceive their own hepatitis-B-virus status: the results of a study in a Thai medical school

In 2000 all of the medical students of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok who were then in their pre-clinical year were interviewed about their hepatitis-B-virus (HBV) status. Of the 215 interviewees, 125 (58.2%) claimed to know their HBV status. Seventy (32.6%) of the subjects assumed they were immune because they had already been vaccinated against the virus, 32 (14.9%) claimed to have natural immunity following exposure to the virus, and 14 (6.5%) reported that they were HBV carriers. Another five (2.3%) of the subjects said they had been tested for HBV and found seronegative and the remaining four subjects (1.9%) who said they knew their status declined to give any more details. The 90 subjects who did not know their status were all offered HBV screening, and 62 agreed to be tested, both for the surface antigen of the virus (HBsAG) and antibody to the viral core (anti-HBc). These tests revealed that 37 subjects were seronegative (negative for both HBsAg and anti-HBc), 11 appeared to have natural immunity (negative for HBsAg but positive for anti-HBc) and the other 14 were carriers (positive for HBsAg but negative for anti-HBc). Four of the 14 carriers were also positive for the HBV 'e' antigen (HBeAg), indicating that they were highly infectious. Medical students form a high-risk group for infection with blood-borne pathogens, including HBV. That more than 40% of the pre-clinical students in the present study did not know their HBV status and fewer than 50% had been vaccinated against the virus are therefore causes for concern. Those students entering Thai medical schools for the first time clearly need to be better educated about hepatitis B and to be encouraged to be vaccinated before they begin any clinical practices.

Epidemiology of HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) in selected African and Asian populations

401 sera from patients of a rural hospital in Zimbabwe (1987), 211 South African sera (1982/83), as well as 460 sera from four Katmandu hospitals (1985) were tested for HIV-1 antibodies. The sera from Zimbabwe and Nepal were additionally tested for anti-HIV-2 using a panel of different tests, for hepatitis B markers, and partially for antibodies against other viral, bacterial, and protozoal antigens. Detailed clinical and sociodemographic data were taken from the Zimbabwe and Katmandu patients. The prevalence of HIV-1 antibodies in the Zimbabwe study population was 3.2%. All infections were found in the age group 17 to 30 years (n = 254). The epidemiological situation was entirely different from that of HBV (hepatitis B virus). No serum could be confirmed to be anti-HIV-2-positive, but a definite diagnosis is still difficult to establish. Regular town contacts may be considered a possible risk factor. Antibodies against HIV-1 could not be detected in the South African and Asian sera. The seropositivity for anti-HBc in Katmandu (14%) and the prevalence of HBsAg (1.1%) was much lower than reported from other Asian countries.