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https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/132889
Title: | Hepatitis B virus infection in Singapore | Authors: | Guan, R. | Keywords: | epidemiology hepatitis B hepatocellular carcinoma Singapore |
Issue Date: | 1996 | Citation: | Guan, R. (1996). Hepatitis B virus infection in Singapore. Gut 38 (SUPPL. 2) : S13-S17. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. | Abstract: | Although Singapore is in an endemic region for hepatitis B infection, the hepatitis B carriage rate of 5-6% is relatively low. The highest positivity rates for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) are found in the paediatric age group, with another peak in 40-49 year olds. Studies suggest that, although perinatal transmission is an important route of infection, most children acquire the virus through horizontal transmission between family members. Viral replication continues at a high rate in young carriers and tends to slow down with increasing age. Up to 50% of hepatitis B carriers in Singapore have chronic hepatitis, shown by raised serum ALT values and liver histology, and about 10% are infected with the precore mutant virus. About 20% of carriers have cirrhosis. Among patients with HCC, up to 75% are HBsAg positive, of whom 45% are still viraemic. Mass vaccination against hepatitis B was introduced into Singapore on a voluntary basis in 1983, with compulsory vaccination of babies born to HBeAg positive mothers since 1985. The number of cases of acute hepatitis B has fallen by 60% between 1989 and 1995 although the problems of the longterm complications of chronic hepatitis B still need to be tackled. | Source Title: | Gut | URI: | http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/132889 | ISSN: | 00175749 |
Appears in Collections: | Staff Publications |
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