HBsAg positive adopted children as a cause of intrafamilial spread of hepatitis B.
About 5% of the children adopted to Sweden from mostly India and Korea are chronic carriers of HBsAg. Most of them are also e-antigen positive. In this investigation 12 families with such children have been studied to evaluate the infectivity risk. Out of 36 family members 5 have had clinical hepatitis, another 2 were HBsAg positive without clinical symptoms and 15 had anti-HBs. It seems clear that these children are a source of infection and all children adopted from countries with high prevalence of hepatitis B should be screened to be able to define the risk group.
D000293:Adolescent; D000300:Adoption; D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000635:transmission*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013548:Sweden
D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens