Searching for chronic hepatitis B patients in a low prevalence area – role of racial origin

Twenty three Asian CHB probands and their 313 relatives plus 31 CHB probands of Western origin and their 211 relatives were screened for HBV serological markers; the study was carried out in the outpatient clinic of the University of S？o Paulo School of Medicine.Mother to child transmission was greater in the Asian group whereas sexual transmission was more frequent in the Western group (p < 0.0001). Anti-HBc was positive in 90% and 57% of the Asian and Western parents (p = 0.0432) and in 97% and 33% of the Asian and Western brothers (p = 0.0001), respectively. HBsAg was more frequent among the Asian (66%) than the Western (15%) mothers (p = 0.0260) as well as among the Asian (81%) than the Western (19%) brothers (p = 0.0001). We could detect 110 new HBsAg-positive subjects related to the 54 index patients, being the majority (81%) of Asian origin.In low prevalence area of hepatitis B, family members and household contacts of chronic HBV carriers are at high risk for acquiring hepatitis B.Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem. Of the 2 billion people who have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), more than 350 million have chronic (lifelong) infections. These chronically infected persons are at high risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer, diseases that kill about one million persons each year. Treatment with antiviral drugs can slow the progression of the liver disease to cirrhosis and thus avoid or delay the necessity of liver transplantation. Therefore, early hepatitis B diagnosis could benefit many asymptomatic patients.In the last decade new antiviral drugs for hepatitis B have emerged and revolutionized the treatment of its chronic from. Lamivudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and is currently used in many countries for the hepatitis B treatment. Despite the potent action of this drug, the development of viral resistance prompted the search for new therapeutic agents and new strategies to tr