Hepatitis virus infection among prostitutes in the Tokyo area.

概要

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To clarify the real situation of the spread of hepatitis virus infection due to sexual behaviour, the authers studied the prevalence of hepatitis virus markers (HAAb, HBsAg, HBsAb and HBcAb) in the sera from 204 prostitutes living in the Tokyo area. Two hundred fourty-five healthy married women whose age was comparable to that of the prostitutes served as controls.<BR>HAAb was detected in 54.9% and HBsAg in 1.9% of sera taken from the prostitutes. These rate were similar to those observed in the controls. However, HBsAb was detected in 46.5% of the prostitutes and 23.6% of the controls, and HBcAb in 44.6% of the prostitutes and 22.8% of the controls. The prevalence of these HBV associated antibodies was significantly higher in the prostitutes than in the controls. In the prostitutes, the occurrence of HBsAb and HBcAb increased with advancing age, which showed a significant difference between the younger and older age groups.<BR>These results suggest that prostitutes are a high exposure group to HBV and that HBV infection is sexually transmitted, which may support the conventional hypothesis that HBV infection in adults with mature immunity rarely develops a chronic carrier state of the virus.
社団法人日本肝臓学会の論文