Clinical and serological study of household contacts of index patients suffering from acute viral hepatitis showed the high infectivity of hepatitis A viral (HAV) for susceptible contacts. The anti-HAV specific IgM developed in sera of 67% of susceptible children and 31% of susceptible adult contacts. Of 81 susceptible contacts whose sera became anti-HAV positive, 28.4% developed clinically overt hepatitis. Administration of human immunoglobulin reduced the rate of clinical expression of hepatitis A among susceptible contacts; it also appeared to reduce the actual infection rate. The infection rate among susceptible adult contacts of adult index cases suffering from hepatitis B was 24%. Of 25 susceptible contacts whose sera became HBV-marker positive, 24% developed clinical illness. Transmission occurred probably both by parenteral and non-parenteral means. It is currently not possible to determine susceptibility or seroconversion to hepatitis non-A non-B agents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1982

Viral hepatitis: a four-year hospital and general-practice study in Sydney 1. Epidemiological features, natural history, and laboratory findings.

We studied 761 patients admitted to hospital with viral hepatitis between 1971 and 1974, and 53 patients with viral hepatitis seen in general practice in Sydney, following up some of them for one to two years. We evaluated factors contributing to each type of hepatitis. We noted differences in the patterns in hepatitis A, B and non-A non-B between Anglo-Saxon and non-Anglo-Saxon sectors of the community. All patients with hepatitis A regained normal liver function within 20 months of the acute illness. Of 115 hepatitis B patients seen at 12 months, 6% had chronic hepatitis Bs antigenaemia, 60% had developed anti-HBs antibodies, and 7.3% still had abnormal liver function. Of 20 non-A non-B patients followed for 12 months, liver function was still abnormal in three, but one of these had developed hepatitis B. The case fatality rate for the whole series was 0.66%.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

Informed consent: given the facts.

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Humans↗

PubMed1981

The seroepidemiology of hepatitis in Papua New Guinea. I. A long-term study of hepatitis A.

Sera from 988 subjects in four ecologic zones of the Sepik district and 219 subjects from four widely spaced altitudes of the bismarck range in Papua New Guinea were tested for antibody to the hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) by radioimmunoassay. The Sepik district subjects, mostly children between three months and six years of age when first sampled in 1963, were re-bled on four occasions over the ensuing nine years. The Bismarck range population was sampled only in 1964. In the Sepik district, anti-HAV was detected infrequently before the age of three years and showed maximum increase in prevalence rates between 7-10 years, with little increase thereafter. Antibody acquisition rates also indicated peak transmission in this age group, with fewer conversions between three months and six years of age and in adulthood. There was a consistent, though unexplained tendency for HAV infections to occur more frequently in proximity to the Sepik river than in areas farther away, and in the lower altitudes of the Bismarck range. As determined by serial samples, anti-HAV detected in 1963-1964 was still present in 1972 in 118 out of 119 subjects.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

The seroepidemiology of hepatitis in Papua New Guinea. II. A long-term study of hepatitis B.

Sera from 862 young children and 206 older subjects, living in four zones of the Sepik district in New Guinea, and obtained in March, August, December 1963, May 1964 and again in 1972, were tested for the hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers, surface antigen and antibody (HBsAg and anti-HBs) and core antibody (anti-HBc). This population was augmented by a group of adult women living at various altitudes in the Bismarck range area, upon whose sera the same tests were performed. There was a slight tendency for males to exceed females in HBV infections and in propensity to chronic carriage of HBsAg. HBV infections increased cumulatively with age in all ecologic zones studied, with no significant increase in prevalence after early adulthood. In the Sepik district, the HBV status of the population was relatively the same in 1963 and 1972. Overall, 64% of markers of HBV infection persisted over a nine-year period; anti-HBc was more persistent than anti-HBs. Most HBsAg positive subjects detected were chronic carriers, 74% of whom retained detectable antigen for a least nine years. The study provided no evidence to support the hypothesis that mosquitoes are important vectors of HBV. The proportion of HBV infected subjects with chronic HBsAg was about 15%, similar to that found in Caucasians in other studies. This casts some doubt on the theory that tropical populations are especially predisposed to chronic HBV infection.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

International Conference on the Nursing Care of the Aged: closing remarks -- future directions in the nursing care of the aged.

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Congresses as Topic↗

PubMed1980

Viral hepatitis A and B: a seroepidemiological study of a non-hepatitic Sydney population.

The age-specific prevalence rates of hepatitis A and B virus markers in 683 patients of all ages with non-hepatitic illnesses admitted to a Sydney hospital over the period from 1971 to 1974 were determined. The pattern of prevalence rates of hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV) appeared to be a cumulative one, with steadily increasing rates in patients up to the age of 40 years. Thereafter a large increase in prevalence occurred. In contrast, prevalence rates for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers were fairly uniform for all age groups. Antibody to core antigen (anti-HBc) was the most frequent marker of HBV infection. Prevalence rates in subjects of non-Anglo-Saxon origin were higher for both HAV and HBV markers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Use of immunoglobulin M antibody to hepatitis B core antigen in diagnosis of viral hepatitis.

To determine the diagnostic value of hepatitis B core (HBc)-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody (anti-HBc IgM), the sera of six patients with known recent acute viral hepatitis B were examined for the presence of anti-HBc periodically for up to 21 months from the onset of the attack by a sensitive radioimmunoassay technique (CORAB, Abbott Laboratories). It was found that anti-HBc IgM was detectable for approximately 17 months from the onset of the illness. Hence the finding of anti-HBc IgM suggests infection by hepatitis B virus, probably within the preceding 1 to 2 years. A high level of anti-HBc IgM in the acute-phase serum of an individual with viral hepatitis is indicative of recent hepatitis B virus etiology; one patient, however, showed a low titer of anti-HBc IgM in the acute-phase serum sample, which remained virtually unchanged 15 months from onset. The diagnostic use of this serologaical marker is illustrated in 25 patients with viral hepatitis, in whose acute-phase sera anti-HBc was found.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1977