EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HEPATITIS B IN TWO ALASKAN COMMUNITIES

• Main Authors: BARRETT, DAVID H., BURKS, JOHN M., McMAHON, BRIAN, ELLIOTT, SARAH, BERQUIST, KENNETH R., BENDER, THOMAS R., MAYNARD, JAMES E.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1977
• Subjects: ARTICLES; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/105/2/118

In 1973, epidemiologic and serologic data related to hepatitis B infection were collected from the residents of two remote Alaskan Eskimo villages located in an area of high hepatitis incidence. A total of 418 sera were tested by solid-phase radioimmunoassay for hepatitis B surface antigen (HB s Ag) and antibody to that antigen (anti-HB s ). The overall infection prevalence of 54.8% in the two villages included a 13.9% prevalence of HB s Ag and a 40.9% prevalence of anti-HB s . Families containing an individual with HB s Ag had significantly higher infection prevalence than those without an antigen carrier. Larger households had higher proportions of infected members than smaller households. The data suggest that efficient transmission of hepatitis B virus occurs within the household setting in these villages by other than classically established parenteral routes.