title: The prevalence of viral hepatitis (HAV, HBV and HCV) in the Christchurch community.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) in adults randomly selected from the Christchurch community.
  
  
  METHODS
  A list of names was randomly generated from the Christchurch electoral roll and subjects were sequentially contacted and invited to participate. A blood sample was taken and tested for hepatitis A (IgG anti-HAV antibody), hepatitis B (HBsAg and anti-HBc) and HCV (anti-HCV antibody) using Abbott Elisa kits. Subjects positive for HBsAg were also tested for HBeAg/HBV DNA. Those positive for anti-HBc were tested for anti-HBs. HCV antibody positive samples were tested for HCV RNA using PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  1064 subjects (30.3% of those invited) participated in the study. The prevalence of HAV antibodies was 27.9%, and increased with age. The overall prevalence of HBV markers was 42/1064 (4.2%), and of these 0.3% were HBsAg positive and 3.9% were considered immune. No gender or ethnic differences in these proportions were observed. The seroprevalence of HVC antibody was 3/1064 (0.3%), two of whom were also PCR positive for HCV RNA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the Christchurch community there was a high prevalence of antibodies to HAV, which increased with age. The prevalence of HBsAg and antibody to HCV were both low at 0.3%.
authors.affiliation: Christchurch Hospital.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Burt
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Collett
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Barclay
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: George
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral