Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infection among women in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea

• Published in: Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 362 - 368
• Main Authors: SHIMBO, Shinichiro, WATANABE, Takao, NAKATSUKA, Haruo, MATSUDA-INOGUCHI, Naoko, KO, Yang-Sook, KIM, Eul-Sang, HIGASHIKAWA, Kae, IKEDA, Masayuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bangkok Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network 01.06.2001
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Hepatitis B - enzymology; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis C - enzymology; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Korea - epidemiology; Liver Function Tests; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Tropical medicine; Viral diseases; Viral hepatitis; Asia; South Korea; Korea; Infection; Human; Viral hepatitis B; Prevalence; Viral disease; Digestive diseases; Hepatic disease; Female; Epidemiology; Viral hepatitis C
• ISSN: 0125-1562

Hepatitis B and C virus infection prevalence was investigated in the Island of Jeju (formerly Cheju), the Republic of Korea, by means of a small-scale sero-epidemiological survey in 2000. Adult women in the city of Jeju (the provincial capital) and two fishing-farming villages A and B were invited to offer venous blood samples for immunological examination for infection markers of two virus and serum biochemistry for liver function. In practice, 66 married women (33, 16 and 17 women from the city, Village A and Village B, respectively) volunteered. Sera were separated on site and were assayed for HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc, and anti-HCV positivities and liver function markers including AST, ALT and gamma-GTP. The serum assay showed that the prevalence of HbsAg+ or anti-HCV+ cases was low (5 and 2%, respectively), whereas that of anti-HBs+ and anti-HBc+ cases were high (71 and 62%) so that the over-all HBV positivity was 82%. There were essentially no urban-rural difference or age-dependent changes in the positivity. Comparison with the prevalence reported in literature shows that prevalence of HBsAg+ and anti-HCV+ is in general agreement with the values reported for the populations in general, but HBV+ prevalence might be somewhat higher than the levels reported for the general populations.