THE RELATIONSHIP OF HEPATITIS B SURFACE ANTIGEN AND ANTIBODY TO ATOMIC BOMB RADIATION IN THE ADULT HEALTH STUDY SAMPLE, 1975–1977

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Abstract
A frequency of positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (antl-HBs) was determined among 2566 atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during the two-year period 1975 to 1977. The frequency of positive HBsAg (79% of subjects remained persistently antigen positive) was significantly higher in those exposed to 100 rad or more than in the controls. This difference between exposure groups was more marked among the younger age groups. However, contrary to expectation, there was no difference between the dose groups in the distribution by high vs. low titers among the antigen-positive individuals. There was no difference between the two comparison groups in the occurrence of positive anti-HBs reactions (prevalence of hepatitis B virus). The above findings suggest that immune competence, using the prevalence of positive HBsAg as an index, is depressed in the high dose group, but further study, including follow-up of those with persistent positive HBsAg reactions, is called for. With respect to HBsAg subtypes, adr occurs with higher and adw with lower frequency in Nagasaki than in Hiroshima, corresponding to earlier reports for the Japan archipelago of reverse and complementary distributions of these two subtypes.