Until recently, hepatitis type B was thought to be transmitted parenterally. However,
much evidence has appeared regarding non-parenteral transmission. Hospital personnel
are exposed both ways to this disease. We compared the incidence of hepatitis B surface
antigen (HB(s)Ag) and antibody (anti-HB(s)) among 388 workers at a major medical center in
Israel with 203 kibbutz residents, using radioimmunoassay procedures. -
Of the hospital personnel, 1.8% were found to carry the antigen and 23.9% the antibody.
In contrast, 0.5% of kibbutz personnel were antigen-positive and 11.8% carried the antibody.
The highest incidence of antibody was found among people born in middle-eastern countries
outside of Israel. These results show a significant increase in the exposure of hospital personnel
to hepatitis B virus. A marked increase in the frequency of sera positive for anti-HB(s) occurred
after the first year of hospital work.
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