Evolution of Acute Hepatitis B in Homosexual Men to Chronic Hepatitis B
- 1 May 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of internal medicine (1960)
- Vol. 145 (5) , 881-882
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1985.00360050145024
Abstract
• To determine whether the frequency of chronic hepatitis B in homosexual men reflects the high rate of acute hepatitis B or an altered response to hepatitis B, 236 homosexual men were prospectively followed up after entry into the placebo group of a hepatitis B vaccine trial. Sixty-six participants (28.0%) developed hepatitis B ten to 18 months after entering the study. Only four (6.1%) of the 66 had persistence of hepatitis B beyond six months, similar to reports in nonhomosexual subjects. This study suggests that the high rate of acute hepatitis B is the major factor contributing to the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B in homosexual men, rather than an altered host response. Clinical features of the acute illness could not be used to identify patients who developed chronic hepatitis B. (Arch Intern Med 1985;145:881-882)This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: