title: Hepatitis B surface antigen subtypes in Malaysia.
abstract: One hundred and ninety hepatitis B surface antigen positive (HBsAG+) sera were subtyped, belonging to : blood donors, hepatitis patients, patients and staff in a hemodialysis unit, all from Kuala Lumpur; Malaysian aborigines from three jungle locations in Peninsular Malaysia; and East Malaysians from Sarawak, East Malaysia; Three subtypes adr, adw and ayw were present in Malaysia in the following frequencies: 44%, 29%, and 27%, respectively; In Kuala Lumpur 87% had subdeterminant d and 13 per cent y, whereas in the deep jungle aborigines of Perak and Pahang, the y subdeterminant was present in 87% and the d in 13%. A similar pattern of preponderance of y prevailed in Sarawak, East Malaysia. In Kuala Lumpur the two main ethnic groups, Malays and Chinese, differed in subtype distribution, in that adr predominated in the Malays (61%), while the adw predominated in the Chinese (51%); Subtype distribution was not related to age or sex of carriers of the antigen, or to whether they had hepatitis, or asymptomatic antigenemia.
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens; D006801:Humans; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D008296:Malaysia / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D006435:Renal Dialysis
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens