Hepatitis B e antigen in volunteer and paid blood donors.

Sera from 200 volunteer donors and 200 paid blood donors, all positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), were tested for the presence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg).HBeAg was detected in 31 HBsAg-positive paid donors (15%), and in 11 HBsAg-positive volunteer donors (5%) by agar gel diffusion. The presence of HBsAg was associated with higher titers of HBsAg. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe) in the two donor groups. Rheumatoid factor was not associated with the presence or absence of HBeAg or anti-HBe, indicating that HBeAg is probably not an anti-IgG. These data support the epidemiological evidence that paid blood donors appear to be more likely than volunteer donors to transmit hepatitis B virus infection to recipients of their blood.