Abstract
A community-based study in northern Natal/KwaZulu, South Africa, assessed the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in rural Black adults. The prevalence of HBV carriers was 4.4 percent in women (N = 342) and 7.1 percent in men (N = 99). At least one marker of HBV infection was present in 81 percent of women and 86 percent of men. The relative risk (RR) of HBV marker positivity in women due to scarification, adjusted for the presence of pierced ears, was 1.37 (95% CI = 0.9, 2.1). Risk factors such as scarification and pierced earlobes need to be further investigated to assess their role in the transmission of the HBV.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Abdool Karim S. S., Coovadia H. M., Windsor I. M., Thejpal R., van den Ende J., Fouche A. The prevalence and transmission of hepatitis B virus infection in urban, rural and institutionalized black children of Natal/KwaZulu, South Africa. Int J Epidemiol. 1988 Mar;17(1):168–173. doi: 10.1093/ije/17.1.168. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Beasley R. P., Trepo C., Stevens C. E., Szmuness W. The e antigen and vertical transmission of hepatitis B surface antigen. Am J Epidemiol. 1977 Feb;105(2):94–98. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112370. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bersohn I., MacNab G. M., Pyzikowska J., Kew M. C. The prevalence of hepatitis B (Australia) antigen in Southern Africa. S Afr Med J. 1974 May 11;48(22):941–944. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bowry T. R. Seroepidemiology of hepatitis B in an urban population of Nairobi, Kenya. J Infect Dis. 1983 Dec;148(6):1122–1122. doi: 10.1093/infdis/148.6.1122. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Greenland S., Robins J. M. Estimation of a common effect parameter from sparse follow-up data. Biometrics. 1985 Mar;41(1):55–68. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnson C. J., Anderson H., Spearman J., Madson J. Ear piercing and hepatitis. Nonsterile instruments for ear piercing and the subsequent onset of viral hepatitis. JAMA. 1974 Mar 11;227(10):1165–1165. doi: 10.1001/jama.227.10.1165b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnson D. E., Snitbhan R., Scott R. M., Pearlman E. J., Kennedy R. S. Hepatitis B in the rural tropics. Int J Epidemiol. 1980 Jun;9(2):123–129. doi: 10.1093/ije/9.2.123. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Joubert J. J., Prozesky O. W., Lourens J. G., van Straten A. M., Theron J. W., Swanevelder C., Meenehan G. M., van der Merwe C. A. Prevalence of hepatitis virus and some arbovirus infections in Kavango, northern SWA/Namibia. S Afr Med J. 1985 Mar 30;67(13):500–502. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kew M. C., Reis P., Macnab G. M., Seftel H. C., Bersohn I. The witch-doctor and tribal scarification of the skin and the hepatitis B antigen. S Afr Med J. 1973 Dec 22;47(50):2419–2420. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mosley J. W. The epidemiology of viral hepatitis: an overview. Am J Med Sci. 1975 Sep-Oct;270(2):253–270. doi: 10.1097/00000441-197509000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Prozesky O. W., Szmuness W., Stevens C. E., Kew M. C., Harley E. J., Hoyland J. A., Scholtz J. E., Mitchell A. D., Shabangu A., Kunene E. Baseline epidemiological studies for a hepatitis B vaccine trial in Kangwane. S Afr Med J. 1983 Nov 26;64(23):891–893. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sebastiani A., Aceti A., Paparo B. S., Pennica A., Ilardi I., Bile K., Mohamud O. M. Hepatitis B virus circulation in three different villages of Somalia. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1985;79(2):162–164. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(85)90323-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]