Prevention and Control of HBV Infection

HB Vaccine in Japan In Japan, there are three companies which concern themselves in the development of HB Vaccine. Regarding the Vaccines developed by Kitasato Institute and Green Cross co., the licence was given by Ministry of Health and Welfare. After the safety test using Chimpanzees, these two HB Vaccines are going to be on the market and available around the end of 1985. The HB Vaccine developed by Kaketsuken Institute is now asking for the licence of it. Each Vaccine produced by three companies is made from e-Antigen negative Plasma, and it was inactivated by formaline after 10 hrs\u27 heat. sterilization at 60 degrees. The subtype of HBs Antigen of source plasma is adr, and 40μg of HBs Antigen is contained in 1ml of HB Vaccine. One dose of each Vaccine is 0.5ml for adult and 0.25 ml for babies and administrated subcutaneously. The producing method and Alminum content as an adjunct are different in these 3 Vaccines. (Table 1) The positive ratio of anti HBs reaches maximum point after 3rd vaccination, and the mean titer of anti HB

タイ国北部におけるB型肝炎ウイルス，C型肝炎ウイルスおよび後天性免疫不全ウイルス感染の血清疫学的研究

A total of 1,889 voluntarily donated blood from five provinces in northern Thailand were investigated for the prevalences of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The average positive rates of HBs-Ag, anti-HBs, IgM anti-HBc, anti-HCV and anti-HIV were 8.7, 42.6, 0.5, 1.6 and 1.7%, respectively. The highest positive rates of HBs-Ag, anti-HBs, IgM anti-HCV and anti-HIV were found in the age group under 19 years (13.3%), 40-49 year old group (47.6%), 20-29 year old group (0.6%), 30-39 year old group (2.6%) and 20-29 year old group (2.9%), respectively. We found only two cases that were anti-HIV and HBs-Ag positive. There are no cases that were anti-HIV and IgM anti-HBc positive, and that were anti-HIV and anti-HCV positive. These results suggest that in northern Thailand, most of the HBV infections are due to vertical transmission from mother to child, although HBV infection is a major cause of viral hepatitis, HCV infection will become an important public health problem in the near future and that the prevalence of HIV infection is quite high among sexually active generations. Therefore, there is a need for more medical attention to these blood-borne virus diseases, and we strongly recommend routine blood screening for HCV in every medical institutions in northern Thailand