Serologic markers of hepatitis B and A infections in the healthy population.

The prevalence of the serologic markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and of antibodies to hepatitis A virus (HAV) were determined by radioimmunoassay in 200 healthy subjects. One hundred and seven persons (53.5%) were positive for at least one marker of HBV. The prevalence of each marker was: HBsAg - 9.0%, anti-HBs alone - 2.0%, anti-HBc alone - 2.5%, anti-HBs and anti-HBc - 29.0%, HBsAg and anti-HBc - 11.0%. Evidence of a previous infection with HAV was found in 155 persons (77.5%); three of them had anti-HAV type IgM. These findings indicate that in the area investigated HAV infection is endemic, and HBV infection has a trend towards endemicity.