Decrease in female university students positive for hepatitis B e antigen.

Abstract

Since 1976 university students were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) every year, and sera positive for HBsAg were tested for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe). Yearly changes in the prevalences of HBeAg in the male HBsAg carrier students were relatively small and statistically not significant. In the female HBsAg carrier students, however, HBeAg which was positive by immunodiffusion in 47% of the students in 1976-79 was not detected by radioimmunoassay in 1981 and 1982. The difference of the prevalences of HBeAg between 1976-79 and 1981-82 was statistically highly significant (p less than 0.001). It is suggested that seroconversion from HBeAg to anti-HBe in female HBsAg carriers is recently accelerated.