Hepatitis B virus carrier prevalence in New Zealand: population estimates using the 1987 police and customs personnel survey.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the population hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier prevalence for adults in New Zealand.


METHODS
Data for 1987 from the New Zealand Police Department and New Zealand Customs Department hepatitis B sero-marker survey were further analysed. The sample size was 5510 staff who had completed a questionnaire, had blood sera taken and were not already immunised against hepatitis B.


RESULTS
Maori adults had a HBsAg carrier prevalence of 5.43% (95% confidence interval 3.07-8.81), Pacific adults 4.44% (1.65-9.42), and European adults 0.42% (0.26-0.65). Other ethnic minorities and people with two or more self-assigned ethnic identities had a carrier prevalence of 3.85% (1.06-9.56). There were non-significant differences in this study for carrier prevalence by sex, age and region.


CONCLUSIONS
Policy formation on screening programmes for hepatitis B carriers should assume a HBsAg carrier prevalence of about 5% for Maori, Pacific people and ethnic minorities, and about 0.5% for New Zealanders of European extraction.
Blakely
T
T
Communicable Disease Centre, Porirua. tblakely@wnmeds.ac.nz
Salmond
C
C
Tobias
M
M
D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens