Antigen HBs carriage is a major Health problem due to such severe complications as cirrhosis and liver cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Antigen HBs carriage within the recruits of the Ivorian Gendarmerie. It was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted from April 7, to September 12, 2010 at the Military Hospital of Abidjan. We included 891 male recruits whos...

Transgenic mice expressing human HLA class II molecules provide a useful model for identifying HLA-restricted CD4+ epitopes. However, the influence of endogenous murine H-2-restricted T cell responses on HLA-restricted responses is not known. In the present study, we show that HLA-DR1 transgenic mice deficient for H-2 class II expression (HLA-DR1+/+/IAbeta0/0) exhibit an equivalent expression l...

Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is characterized by presence of HBV DNA in blood or liver tissue without detectable HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), with or without antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) or antibodies against HBsAg (anti-HBs). A molecular and serological characterization was done of OBI in blood donors from Yucatan, Mexico. HBV DNA was found in 24 (6.4%) o...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is responsible for a serious, potentially fatal disease that affects approximately two billion people worldwide. Although an extended HBV immunization program has run since 1991, representing the most effective preventive measure possible, leading to a dramatic reduction of HBV hepatitis incidence, 4.5 million new HBV infections still occur every year. In 1988 the emerge...

We studied the feasibility of detecting antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) by an inhibition assay using the reagents of an enzyme-immunoassay for HBsAg (Hepanostika). Several modifications of the basic assay were investigated. Sensitivity was greatest when the test sample was incubated with a predetermined amount of HBsAg before the usual procedure of HBsAg detection. The presen...

Background and Aims: This study was the trends of Hepatitis B infection among Iranian blood donors which was analyzed in a period of 10 years. Materials and Methods: In a period of 10 years, from 2001 through 2010, a total of 16,264,830 donations from 30 regional and 35 local blood services were screened. All blood samples were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) by commercial avail...

The systematic screening of 253 children with transfusion-dependent homozygous beta-thalassaemia revealed a high incidence of hepatitis B virus markers. The highest frequencies of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) were found in the group of patients with the smallest number of transfusions, while the highest frequency of antibody to hepatiti...

The recent addition of testing volunteer blood donors for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) has raised questions not apparent when such testing is applied to hepatitis B (HB) infected patients. The review of published studies, and our own, demonstrates that it is difficult to evaluate false positive results. Some patients appear to lose antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (ant...