Ramia S
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1990 Dec;84(6):623-7. doi: 10.1080/00034983.1990.11812518.
In order to evaluate the extent of intrafamilial clustering of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, serological tests for evidence of HBV infection were performed on family members of 10 Saudi children who were found to be HBs Ag-positive. The overall prevalences of carriers (HBs Ag-positive) and exposure (presence of any HBV marker) in the 89 siblings were 17.9 and 34.8%, respectively. In siblings of families where the mother was a carrier, exposure to HBV (51.6%) was higher (chi 2 = 1.99, P = 0.15) than in siblings of families where only the father was a carrier (31.4%) and significantly higher (chi 2 = 5.24, P = 0.02) than in siblings of families where neither of the parents was a carrier but both had previous exposure to HBV infection (17.4%). Our data indicate that mainly horizontal and perhaps perinatal transmission could account for this relatively high level of intrafamilial clustering of HBV infection in Saudi families. These results are important for the development of a strategy for controlling HBV infection in Saudi Arabia and perhaps in similar HBV endemic areas.
为了评估乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染在家族内的聚集程度，对10名被检测出乙肝表面抗原（HBs Ag）呈阳性的沙特儿童的家庭成员进行了HBV感染证据的血清学检测。89名兄弟姐妹中携带者（HBs Ag呈阳性）和暴露者（存在任何HBV标志物）的总体患病率分别为17.9%和34.8%。在母亲为携带者的家庭的兄弟姐妹中，HBV暴露率（51.6%）高于父亲为携带者的家庭的兄弟姐妹（31.4%）（卡方值=1.99，P=0.15），且显著高于父母均非携带者但均曾接触过HBV感染的家庭的兄弟姐妹（17.4%）（卡方值=5.24，P=0.02）。我们的数据表明，主要是水平传播以及可能的围产期传播导致了沙特家庭中HBV感染相对较高的家族内聚集水平。这些结果对于制定沙特阿拉伯以及可能在类似HBV流行地区控制HBV感染的策略具有重要意义。
