Determination of Hepatitis B Frequency among Family Members of HbsAg+ in Military and Non-Military Persons

Aims.Today hepatitis B is one of the biggest challenges the medical community faces the world over. Transmission modes are non-percutaneous and percutaneous of the former those thought to have the greatest impact are sexual contact and prenatal transmission. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B infection among family members of HBV carriers with particular emphasis on the clusteration of infection in the families of military patients. Methods. Family members of 250 HBV patients at Tehran Hepatitis Center were evaluated between 2001 and 2002. Questionnaires were filled out including the patients demographic information, disease and vaccination status and the status of HBsAg in their family members. Vaccination and prevalence rates of HBsAg were calculated for different groups. Results. From a total of 1086 family members, 1057(97.2%) were checked for HbsAg. 16.3% of those checked were HBsAg positive. The highest carriage rate was observed in the mothers of the patients (33.3%), followed by their sibling (30.7%), fathers (28.8%), spouses (8.0%) and children (6.5%) The prevalence rate in the family members of female patients was found to be significantly higher than that in the males (28.8% vs. 11.7%, p<0.05). The families of military patients were significantly less HBsAg positive in comparison with those of the civilians (1.98% vs. 20.8%, p <0.05). Conclusion. The results of this study indicate that the families of HBV carriers are considered a center of clusteration of infection in Iran and that percutaneous exposure is the main mode of transmission. A higher contribution of health centers for armed forces and commitment to discipline in the military population have led to a significant decrease in the carriage rate in this group. Screening of family members of HBV carriers and subsequent vaccination of seronegatives are highly recommended.