599 TRANSACTIONS OF TIIE
ROYAL
SOCIETY
OF TROPICAL
~~EOICINE
AND HYGIENE,
VOL. 73, No. 5, 1979
Correspondence To the Editor
Prevalence
of HBsAg in a Brazilian leprosarium
SIR-During the years 1977-78 we concluded a survey on the prevalence of HBsAg among the professional staff of a general hospital and in the patient population of a leprosarium in Rio de Janeiro. The hospital staff that volunteered for blood testing consisted of medical doctors of all clinical and surgical specialties, residents, interns, nurses, laboratory technicians, kitchen, laundry and ancillary personnel. 119 inpatients (68 males) of a leprosarium were also tested for HBsAa. 85 had lenromatous leorosv, 11 had the tuberculAd form, five had dimorphous leprosy and 18 had the indeterminate variety of the disease. The method of HBsAg testing used in both groups was reverse passive haemagglutination after absorption with red cells supplied by the laboratory (Hepanosticon). The prevalence of HBsAg in the hospital staff was 3.53% (14/396), with no greater prevalence of HBsAg in any particular sub-group of health care workers. In the leprosarium HBsAg was present in 12.6% (15/119) of the in-patients, 14 of these cases presenting with lepromatous leprosy. Considering that the prevalence of HBsAg in blood-bank donors in Brazil is 0 *8 y0 when tested by this samemethod (TAKEI et al., 1976), this report stresses the occupational risk of hepatitis B among health care workers (BARKER et al., 1975) and the high prevalence of HBsAg in lepromatous leprosy in Brazil. FELIX R. ZYNGIER FERNANDO G. COSTA SHMUEL D. ZILBERMAN PAULO S. S. GREY ANTONIO C. LEMME ROSANGELA GAZE ANALIA PEREIRA
Gastroe?lterology Unit, Hospital Andarai INAMPSJRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil References
Takei, K., Ide, T., Schnaider, J., Amato Neto, V., Mendoca, J. S., Rosemblit, J. & Melo, E. (1976). Pesquisa do HBsAg por contraimunoosmoforese, hemaglutina@o passiva e radioimunoensaio. RevistaBrasileira de Patologia Clinica, 12,121-126. Barket, L. F., Deinhardt, F., Ketiladze, E. S., McCollum, R. W., Melnick, J. L., Nowoslawski,
A., Nutter, J. & Zuckerman, A. J. (1975). Viral hepatitis, WHO Technical Report Series, No. 570.
Accepted for publication
ABO
Blood
Groups
11 th May,
1979.
and falciparum
malaria
SIR-Recently MARTIN et al. (1979) reported that the distribution of ABO blood groups in Nigerian children with severe falciparum malaria was similar to the data of WORLLEDGE et al. (1974) for adults in the same population. We have ABO-typed 245 Gambian children from the Kombo St. Mary area of the Western Division of The Gambia; the s-ample included 80 children presenting with severe falciparum malaria. There was no significant difference in the frequency of the ABO antigens between the children with malaria and the controls (Table I). This confirms the report of MARTIN Table I-ABO children
Blood group A B
blood
groups
in
Gambian
Children with* severe malaria
Control** children
20 (25.0%) 16 (20.0%)
40 (24.2%) 41 (24.8%)
AOB Total
80
165
Children included in the survey belonged to the Mandinka, Wolloff, Fula and Jola tribes. * patients attending the MRC out-patients clinic at Fajara with clinical and parasitological features of falciparum malaria. ** primary schoolchildren with undetectable or low grade parasitaemias. et al. (1979), and eliminates the possibility that the ABO system is linked with I’. jalciparum infections as P. vivax is with the Duffy blood group system (MILLER et al., 1976). The results show a higher frequency in The Gambia of blood groups AB and B than the reported frequency of these blood groups in Nigeria (WORLLEDGE et aE., 1974; MOIJRANT
ROYAL
SOCIETY
OF TROPICAL
~~EOICINE
AND HYGIENE,
VOL. 73, No. 5, 1979
Correspondence To the Editor
Prevalence
of HBsAg in a Brazilian leprosarium
SIR-During the years 1977-78 we concluded a survey on the prevalence of HBsAg among the professional staff of a general hospital and in the patient population of a leprosarium in Rio de Janeiro. The hospital staff that volunteered for blood testing consisted of medical doctors of all clinical and surgical specialties, residents, interns, nurses, laboratory technicians, kitchen, laundry and ancillary personnel. 119 inpatients (68 males) of a leprosarium were also tested for HBsAa. 85 had lenromatous leorosv, 11 had the tuberculAd form, five had dimorphous leprosy and 18 had the indeterminate variety of the disease. The method of HBsAg testing used in both groups was reverse passive haemagglutination after absorption with red cells supplied by the laboratory (Hepanosticon). The prevalence of HBsAg in the hospital staff was 3.53% (14/396), with no greater prevalence of HBsAg in any particular sub-group of health care workers. In the leprosarium HBsAg was present in 12.6% (15/119) of the in-patients, 14 of these cases presenting with lepromatous leprosy. Considering that the prevalence of HBsAg in blood-bank donors in Brazil is 0 *8 y0 when tested by this samemethod (TAKEI et al., 1976), this report stresses the occupational risk of hepatitis B among health care workers (BARKER et al., 1975) and the high prevalence of HBsAg in lepromatous leprosy in Brazil. FELIX R. ZYNGIER FERNANDO G. COSTA SHMUEL D. ZILBERMAN PAULO S. S. GREY ANTONIO C. LEMME ROSANGELA GAZE ANALIA PEREIRA
Gastroe?lterology Unit, Hospital Andarai INAMPSJRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil References
Takei, K., Ide, T., Schnaider, J., Amato Neto, V., Mendoca, J. S., Rosemblit, J. & Melo, E. (1976). Pesquisa do HBsAg por contraimunoosmoforese, hemaglutina@o passiva e radioimunoensaio. RevistaBrasileira de Patologia Clinica, 12,121-126. Barket, L. F., Deinhardt, F., Ketiladze, E. S., McCollum, R. W., Melnick, J. L., Nowoslawski,
A., Nutter, J. & Zuckerman, A. J. (1975). Viral hepatitis, WHO Technical Report Series, No. 570.
Accepted for publication
ABO
Blood
Groups
11 th May,
1979.
and falciparum
malaria
SIR-Recently MARTIN et al. (1979) reported that the distribution of ABO blood groups in Nigerian children with severe falciparum malaria was similar to the data of WORLLEDGE et al. (1974) for adults in the same population. We have ABO-typed 245 Gambian children from the Kombo St. Mary area of the Western Division of The Gambia; the s-ample included 80 children presenting with severe falciparum malaria. There was no significant difference in the frequency of the ABO antigens between the children with malaria and the controls (Table I). This confirms the report of MARTIN Table I-ABO children
Blood group A B
blood
groups
in
Gambian
Children with* severe malaria
Control** children
20 (25.0%) 16 (20.0%)
40 (24.2%) 41 (24.8%)
AOB Total
80
165
Children included in the survey belonged to the Mandinka, Wolloff, Fula and Jola tribes. * patients attending the MRC out-patients clinic at Fajara with clinical and parasitological features of falciparum malaria. ** primary schoolchildren with undetectable or low grade parasitaemias. et al. (1979), and eliminates the possibility that the ABO system is linked with I’. jalciparum infections as P. vivax is with the Duffy blood group system (MILLER et al., 1976). The results show a higher frequency in The Gambia of blood groups AB and B than the reported frequency of these blood groups in Nigeria (WORLLEDGE et aE., 1974; MOIJRANT
