title: Evaluation of methods of pre-vaccination screening for markers of hepatitis B infection.
abstract: The prevalence of serologic evidence of hepatitis B virus infection in various populations in Greece was examined to provide data for formulating cost-effective strategies for prevaccination screening. Markers were detected in 17.5% of 320 healthy persons, 73.3% of 273 multiply transfused patients and 61.0% of 146 haemodialysis patients. In multiply transfused patients, antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) was significantly more common than antibody to core antigen (anti-HBc) (67.0%, 44.3%), while the opposite was true for haemodialysis patients (43.8%, 57.5%). These data suggest that it may be most cost-effective to screen only for anti-HBs in multiply transfused patients and only anti-HBc in haemodialysis patients. Vaccination without screening may be more cost-effective for healthy persons. Anti-HBs and anti-HBc were detected with similar frequencies (14.7%, 15.9%), thus neither offers an advantage in screening healthy persons, although use of anti-HBc may facilitate detection of chronic carriers. These data indicate that the choice of marker for pre-vaccination screening should depend on the population under consideration.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006115:Greece; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014611:Vaccination; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines