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Implementation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination is being considered in Denmark. Therefore, a 20 y survey on the epidemiology of HBV infection was performed. All notified cases of acute HBV infection in Denmark from 1982 to 2002 were reviewed retrospectively and all available data from 1970 to 2001 on the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in different groups of the Danish population were studied. The notified annual incidence of acute HBV infection has declined from more than 200 cases to fewer than 50 cases in 2001. In the indigenous population there has been a similar decline in prevalence of HBsAg carriers, from 0.15 to 0.03%, but owing to immigration of new HBsAg carriers from developing countries the overall number of carriers has not changed. The small effect of immigration on the incidence of acute HBV infections as well as the decreasing prevalence of HBsAg carriers among Danes should be taken into account when planning new vaccination strategies in Denmark.

The prolonged sedation of benzodiazepines may be inconvenient for the patient. Reversal of sedation, therefore, would be desirable. Accordingly, we assessed the efficacy of the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil in a placebo-controlled randomized trial including 40 adults undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy under diazepam (Diazemuls) sedation. We found no significant differences between groups with regard to either performance (two tests) or duration (within 240 min) of sedation. There were no noticeable side effects.

The concentrations of serum selenium and zinc (both in micromoles per litre) were determined in 18 patients 5-12 years after jejunoileal bypass and in 13 controls with untreated morbid obesity. Selenium concentrations were significantly lower in the operated patients than among controls, whereas there was no significant difference with regard to zinc. Ninety-five per cent confidence limits for the median difference between pre- and post-operative concentrations were 0.03-0.41 with regard to selenium and -0.3 to 2.7 with regard to zinc. Even though little is known about the clinical consequences of chronic selenium deficiency, substitution might prove beneficial.