A sample of 1,288 inhabitants of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, were submitted to the determination of anti-HBs using radioimmunoassay procedure, and analysed according to age, sex and income. Overall prevalence of anti-HBs was 11,8%. ranging from 6,7% among children aged less than three years old to 26,1% among those aged 30 years and older. Males presented prevalence of anti-HBs similar to female i...

BACKGROUND The coexistence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to HBsAg (anti-HBs) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been explained by the presence of viral escape mutants. Yet, no systematic analysis of such patients has been performed. We analyzed both the HBV strains and the nature of anti-HBs in such patients. METHODS Four hundred eleven pati...

The protective anti-HBs titres were examined six-year post-immunisation with the Brazilian recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. After the primary vaccination, all adolescents (n = 89) responded with protective anti-HBs titres and had a geometric mean titre (GMT) of 4031.8 mIU/mL. In 2010, 94.5% maintained protective anti-HBs (> 10 mIU/mL) antibodies, with a GMT of 236.0 mIU/mL. A positive correlati...

To prevent reinfection with hepatitis B virus after orthotopic liver transplantation, patients receive long-term intravenous anti-HBs immunoprophylaxis. We compared the pharmacokinetics of intravenously and intramuscularly administered commercially available hepatitis B virus immunoglobulins. The study group consisted of 12 patients on immunoprophylaxis after orthotopic liver transplantation, w...

The Bio-Rad Variant Hemoglobin Testing System is an automated HPLC analyzer marketed with a Beta-thalassemia Short Program to quantify hemoglobins (Hbs) F and A2 and assist in detecting Hbs A, S, C, D, and E. We evaluated this system to replace several traditional methods for Hb in our hospital laboratory. Analytical performance relevant to quantifying Hbs A, S, C, and F was assessed with blood...

Letter to the Editor We would like to comment on the article by Shokrani et al [ 1 ], published in the April 2000 issue of the Annals o f Clinical & Laboratory Science. The authors begin their abstract by stating that HbA2 measurements aid in the differential diagnosis of sickle cell anemia from sickle-beta-thalassemia. This, unless meant for the analysis of families, is incorrect. The HbA2 val...

Hydration water determines the stability and function of phospholipid membranes as well as the interaction of membranes with other molecules. Experiments and simulations have shown that water dynamics slows down dramatically as the hydration decreases, suggesting that the interfacial water that dominates the average dynamics at low hydration is slower than water away from the membrane. Here, ba...

Sera from 600 male homosexual patients were tested for hepatitis B antigen (HBs Ag) and its antibody (HBs Ab). Thirty-one men (5-2%) were positive for HBs Ag. Testing for HBs Ab by immuno-osmoelectrophoresis 33 men (5-5%) were positive. However, sera of 85 patients negative for HBs Ab by routine methods were examined for HBs Ab by radioimmune assay. Thirty (35%) sera were found to be positive. ...