From July 1, 1969, to June 30, 1977, 4,413 patients with acute viral hepatitis were admitted to Fairfield Hospital, Melbourne, of whom 1,128 (25.6%) had hepatitis type B. Only two of the four major subtypes of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were detected, HBsAg/ayw and HBsAg/adw, and of these HBsAg/ayw was present in 80.4% of cases. Over the 8-year period, hepatitis B became more common in Melbourne and the proportion of patients infected with the ayw subtype increased from 75 to 91%. Approximately 50% of the patients with hepatitis B were intravenous drug abusers. In most of the others the source of infection was unknown.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Gust et al. (1980) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: