Serological survey of hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers in out- and in-patients in a university hospital.

Of a total of 13,596 patients and 1,876 blood donors in a university hospital examined, 550 (4.1%) patients and 31 (1.7%) donors possessed hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in their blood. The higher incidence of HBsAg in the patient population than in the blood donors verified the view that medical personnel and hospitalized patients are at increased risk of acquiring HBV infection. To assess the actual hazard of the HBsAg-positive patients, we examined hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) and its antibody (anti-HBe) status of 228 HBsAg-positive patients and found that 39 (18%) were positive for HBeAg and 168 (74.5%) were positive for anti-HBe. This indicated that only one fifth of the HBsAg-positive patients should be drawn attention in terms of HBV transmission within a hospital.