Prevalence and subtype of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in the Saudi population.

Prevalence of HBsAg was studied in 5467 Saudi Arabians (2588 males, 2879 females) of various age groups from the Riyadh area, Central Province. Prevalence was found to be almost the same (6.3%-6.7%) in children less than 3 years of age in both sexes and reached its peak in the 10-14 years old for males (7.8%) and in the 3-9 years old for females (5.3%). The overall prevalence rate in males (5.2%) was significantly higher than that in Saudi females (3.7%); p less than 0.025. The predominant subtype in the Saudi population is ay (91%). Prevalence of HBsAg in 2140 Saudi blood donors was compared with that in 580 Filipino, 677 West European and 286 Yemeni blood donors. Prevalence was highest among Filippino males (12.1%) and lowest among West Europeans (0.4%). Prevalence among male Saudi blood donors was close to that among Yemeni blood donors (4.9%). In all three groups prevalence of HBsAg was higher in males than in females.