The incidence of HAA in 1,071 clinical patients suffering from liver dysfunction and 9,424 healthy persons was investigated in Switzerland. The technique used was described recently [l].The proportions of positive reactors in the different age groups are summarized in table I. HAA was demonstrated in 26% of patients in the agegroupbetween 25-59 years while the antigen was less frequently detected in younger and older persons. It was particularly interesting that the antigen was also found in approximately 7% of newborns under 6 months of age suffering from liver damage while none of the healthy 272 newborns carried the antigen in their cord blood specimens. Hepatitis in newborns may be caused by intrauterine infections with a variety of different agents such as toxoplasma, spirochaeta pallida, rubella, and cytomegalovirus. It has been also reported that pregnant women suffering from virus hepatitis may transmit the disease to their offsprings. It is now generally accepted that hepatitis is a clinical syndrome of multiple aetiology and that HAA is frequently associated with long incubation serum hepatitis.In order t o investigate the possible intrauterine transmission of HAA blood specimens of 5 mothers of HAA positive newborns were examined. The results are represented in figure 1.One mother was treated for virus hepatitis during pregnancy while the others were apparently healthy. HAA was found at least on one occasion in the serum of 4 women tested. This adds further evidence t o the assumption that HAA may be carried over from the infected mother to her offspring [2]. Another case in which HAA has been demonstrated in a 5-month-old newborn and the mother has been reported during this symposium [3].
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