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Hepatitis B - Similarity of Risk Among Populations

NCJ Number
103858
Journal
Journal of Prison and Jail Health Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall/Winter 1985) Pages: 102-107
Author(s)
F Brewer
Date Published
1985
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Much data are now being generated which apply to Hepatitis B vaccine policymaking.
Abstract
Prospective transmission studies in several systems have estimated the rates of risk Hepatitis B infection for individuals who are incarcerated. Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) rates have been used in the past to support the common assumption of similarity of risk. The rationale for use of HBsAg rates and the literature on HBsAg rates is reviewed, and a study from Maryland is presented in this paper. A prevalence of HBsAg of 1.5 percent (12/797) was found in new admissions to the Maryland Division of Correction. Intravenous drug abuse rates on a separate sample were 28 percent (110/387). The assumption of similarity of risk to blood-borne diseases is not supported by the present study in Maryland. Other evidence from the study of AIDS, a disease with similar risk factors, does not support the similarity of risk assumption. Alternative methods of using reported data are presented. (Author abstract modified)

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