Abstract
Seventy-eight families (506 members) of recently immigrating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, were tested for the presence of HBV serological markers to evaluate the intrafamilial horizontal transmission of the virus. Eighty-four members (16.6%) were carriers and 20.2% were HBeAg positive, the overall infection rate was 67.8%. In 40 families (51.3%) at least one family member was HBsAG positive, and in 19 families (24.4%) two or more family members were HBsAg positive. Thirty-six carriers (42.8%) were children under the age of 10, by one year of age 30% have contracted the virus, and by the age of 5 and 10 years 43.5% and 57.1% have had serological markers for past HBV infection, respectively. Our data correlate with other studies regarding the importance of horizontal spread of HBV among Sub-Saharan Africans.
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Bisharat, N., Elias, M., Raz, R. et al. Familial pattern of infection with hepatitis B virus among immigrating Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Eur J Epidemiol 14, 89–91 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007475714341
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007475714341