TY - JOUR
T1 - Seroepidemiology of infection with hepatitis A and B viruses in an isolated pacific population
AU - Gust, Ian D.
AU - Lehmann, Noreen I.
AU - Dimitrakakis, Mary
AU - Zimmet, Paul
N1 - Funding Information:
Received for publication August 1, 1978, and in revised form October 30,1978. This study was assisted by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Please address requests for reprints to Dr. Ian Gust, Fairfield Hospital for Communicable Diseases, Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield 3078, Australia,
PY - 1979/5
Y1 - 1979/5
N2 - To determine the prevalence of infection with hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus in an isolated population, samples of serum were collected from 574 healthy subjects living on the remote Pacific island of Funafuti. Each specimen was tested for antibody to hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B surface antigen, and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen by solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Overall, 79.8% of the population showed evidence of previous infection with hepatitis A virus, and 72.5% with hepatitis B virus; the high prevalence of antibody to both viruses in young adults suggested that the majority of infections were acquired in the first decade of life. Although it is known that hepatitis B virus maintains itself in isolated populations through a reservoir of chronic carriers, the reason for the persistently high rate of infection with hepatitis A virus is unknown.
AB - To determine the prevalence of infection with hepatitis A virus and hepatitis B virus in an isolated population, samples of serum were collected from 574 healthy subjects living on the remote Pacific island of Funafuti. Each specimen was tested for antibody to hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B surface antigen, and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen by solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Overall, 79.8% of the population showed evidence of previous infection with hepatitis A virus, and 72.5% with hepatitis B virus; the high prevalence of antibody to both viruses in young adults suggested that the majority of infections were acquired in the first decade of life. Although it is known that hepatitis B virus maintains itself in isolated populations through a reservoir of chronic carriers, the reason for the persistently high rate of infection with hepatitis A virus is unknown.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0018387954&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/infdis/139.5.559
DO - 10.1093/infdis/139.5.559
M3 - Article
C2 - 438552
AN - SCOPUS:0018387954
SN - 0022-1899
VL - 139
SP - 559
EP - 563
JO - Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - 5
ER -