Antibody to Hepatitis A and B in Children in New York City

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Abstract
The rate at which the population of New York City acquires antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) has been shown to be related to socioeconomic factors,1-3 as is true for so many other infectious diseases. Similarly, antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) has been demonstrated to be influenced in the same way in adults and children from New York City and in adults from other areas in this country.4,5 Unexpectedly it appears that both antibodies accumulate in the population very slowly, beginning in late childhood, and continue to increase in frequency up to middle age. Because of discrepancies between two surveys of anti-HBs in New York City children,1,3 and because we wanted to define more accurately the rate at which children and young adults of different socioeconomic milieu were exposed to these two viral agents, we collected serum samples from a black population in Bedford Stuyvesant and a white population in Staten Island and tested them both for antibodies to HAV and HBsAg.

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