High risk of hepatitis B virus infection in the gypsy population
Fos, E.; Diéguez, A.; Hierro, F.R.; Cruz, M.; Bruguera, M.
Medicina Clinica 89(13): 537-539
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-7753 PMID: 3695684 Document Number: 293625
Determinations were performed of HBsAg in 434 pregnant women of the gipsy race (11.8 %) and in 3.218 of the white race (88.2 %) and studies were carried out on the serological markers for the hepatitis B virus (VHB) in 113 domestic family contacts of pregnant women who were carriers of HBsAg. In 8.2% of the pregnant women of the gipsy race the serum was positive for the HBsAg whereas this only occurred in 1.6% of the pregnant women of the white race (p < 0.001). An HBsAg-positive serum was found in 13.8% of the gipsy women who were carriers of the HBsAg and in 5.7 % of those of the white women (NS). In 13.8 % of gipsy women with HBsAg-positive serum some factor was found associated with the transmission of the hepatitis B virus and this occurred in 61.5 % of carriers of the white race (p < 0.001). A higher prevalence of HBsAg carriers and previous infection by the hepatitis B virus was observed among relatives of the pregnant women of the gipsy race with HBsAg-positive serum than among those of the white women (20.4 % and 51 % versus 4.6 % and 21.8 %, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). These findings indicate that the gipsy race population presents a high risk of infection by the hepatitis B virus, vertical transmission of the virus from mother to infant being the principal mechanism for the infection to continue in the gipsy race.