Epidemiology of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to HBsAg in hospital personnel.
The epidemiology of hepatitis B in hospital personnel was studied by testing of sera from 3,770 employees of the Medical School of Hannover (Hannover, West Germany) for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and its corresponding antibody (anti-HBs) by solid-phase radioimmunoassay. An average prevalence of 2.2% for HBsAg and 11.7% for anti-HBs was found. Physicians (18.2%), nurses (20.1%), and members of the cleaning service (26.3%) showed the highest frequencies of HBsAg or anti-HBs carriage. In a study of age- and sex-matched personnel, nurses showed a significantly (P less than 0.01) higher rate of infection than a control group with less exposure to infectious materials. The frequency of HBsAg or anti-HBs was highest in persons associated with dialysis (31.3%), anesthesiology (31.0%), ophthalmology (29.4%, neurosurgery (28.0%), and surgery (24.4%). The rate of infection was significantly higher in surgical departments (24.4%) than in nonsurgical ones (13.3%). Persons who had been nursing patients with hepatitis were significantly (P less than 0.05) more frequently carriers of HBsAg or anti-HBs than a comparable control group.
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005860:Germany, West; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens