Prevalence of Hepatitis B Antigen and Antibody in Prostitutes

Abstract

SummaryWe investigated the prevalence of hepatitis B antigen (HBAg) and antibody (HBAb) in 293 prostitutes and in 379 pregnant women of similar age and of low socioeconomic level, who served as controls. HBAg was found in 4-4% of prostitutes and 3-4% of controls. The prevalence of HBAb was significantly higher (P <0 001) in prostitutes (56 7%) than in controls (24*5%). The prevalence of HBAb was clearly age-dependent in both groups. Evidence of hepatitis B virus infection significantly increased with the number of years in prostitution. The evidence of increased infection rates among prostitutes and their distribution support the hypothesis that hepatitis B infection is sexually transmitted. IntroductionRecent studies suggest that hepatitis B may be transmitted by non-parenteral or at least inapparent routes (Cossart, 1971) and that sexual transmission may play an important role in the spread of the disease (Jeffries et al., 1973). Thus a high rate of infection might be expected among prostitutes. We therefore decided to test this hypothesis by studying the prevalence of hepatitis B antigen (HBAg) and antibody (HBAb) in prostitutes in Athens, where the incidence of hepatitis B virus infection is high (Papaevangelou et al., 1971). We report the results of the study in this paper.

Hepatitis B serology in Greek prostitutes: significance of the different serum markers

“…The prevalence of HBV markers among male homosexuals and prostitutes has been studied in several countries including Greece (Papaevangelou et al 1974;Ellis et al 1979).…”

“…There is evidence that hepatitis B may spread between sexual partners (Hersh et al 1971;Jeffries et al 1973). Thus the prevalence of hepatitis B infection is very high among prostitutes (Papaevangelou et al 1974) who could be considered as the group at the highest risk for sexually transmitted HBV.…”

Hepatitis-B surface antigen and antibody in Black and White patients with venereal diseases.

“…HBsAg has been demonstrated in the semen (Heathcote et al, 1974;Linnemann and Goldberg, 1974) and vaginal secretions (Darani and Gerber, 1974) of individuals with HBs antigenaemia. However, while an increased prevalence of HBsAg and its specific antibody (antiHBs) has consistently been found in the sera of patients attending venereal disease clinics (Fulford et al, 1973;Jeffries et al, 1973;Szmuness et al, 1975;Vranckx, 1975), studies in prostitutes have yielded conflicting results (Adam et al, 1974;Papaevangelou et al, 1974;Frosner et al, 1975). Moreover, investigation of the families of chronic carriers of HBV has usually failed to show a higher prevalence of HBsAg in spouses than in other family members (Berris et al, 1973;Szmuness et al, 1973;de la Concha et al, 1974), suggesting that heterosexual intercourse may not be an important means of transmission.…”

YEMEK FABRİKASI VE LOKANTA PERSONELİNDE ELISA TESTİ İLE HBsAg ve ANTİ-HBs SONUÇLARI

“…Ülkemiz HBsAg pozitifliğinin % 2-10 ve Anti-HBs pozitifliğinin % 20-50 olduğu orta kuşak kesimine girmektedir (28,30). HBV'nin kaynağını, akut B hepatitli hastalar özellikle, kronik taşıyıcılar oluşturmakta ve bulaşda parenteral, perinatal, cinsel ilişki yolları etkin olmaktadır.…”

“…HBV'nin kaynağını, akut B hepatitli hastalar özellikle, kronik taşıyıcılar oluşturmakta ve bulaşda parenteral, perinatal, cinsel ilişki yolları etkin olmaktadır. HBsAg, dışkı, idrar, ter, safra, gözyaşı, tükrük, bronş lavaj sıvısı, anne sütü, semende saptanmıştır (2,15,18,28). Bu nedenle, parenteral ilaç alışkanlığı olanlar, eşcinseller ve hayat kadınları, hemodiyaliz hastaları, sağlık personeli, yenidoğanlar gibi risk grupları tanımlanmıştır (14).…”