HEPATITIS-B VIRUS-INFECTION AND CHRONIC LIVER-DISEASE IN TAIWAN

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 25  (6) , 423-430
Abstract
Three hundred and eighty-five patients mostly with chronic liver diseases and 729 apparently healthy adults were studied for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) with reversed passive hemagglutination and antibody (anti-HBs) with passive hemagglutination. In healthy adults around 15% were HBsAg positive and 45% were anti-HBs positive, estimating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in nearly 2/3 of the population. The infection already occurred before adulthood. The prevalences of HBsAg were invariably over 80% in the chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatoma) indicating an intimate relationship to HBV. The positive rates of anti-HBs in these diseases were far lower than those in healthy people and patients with other diseases, this is similar to the situation in chronic HBsAg carriers. The prevalence of HBsAg in hepatoma patients was unusually high, being 82.7% in contrast to 11.9% in patients with other malignancies. No only hepatoma patients with cirrhosis but also those without cirrhosis had high prevalence of HBsAg. The fact indicates an even more intimate relationship between hepatoma and HBV.