Hepatitis B Medical Notification 01/07/03 - 30/09/03
During
the third quarter of 2003, 60 hepatitis B medical notifications were
received. Of these, four were acute clinical cases of hepatitis B
infection (Tables 3.1,
3.2).
A further nine were reports of chronic carriers of greater than
twelve months duration, who had been previously diagnosed, but not
notified (Table
3.3).
Reports of antigen positivity of uncertain duration accounted for
47 cases (Table 3.3).
Exposure categories identified for the
acute clinical cases were injecting drug use/tattoos (3) and overseas
travel (1) (Table 3.1).
Of
the 47 reports of antigen positivity of uncertain duration, 34 tested
surface antigen positive for the first time this quarter, three had a
previous negative test and the testing history was unknown for the
remaining 10 cases. Among the 34 individuals who tested surface antigen positive
for the first time, but were not acute cases, the racial origin of 17
(50%) was reported as Asian (Table 3.4).
The number of hepatitis B surface
antigen tests performed by laboratories for this quarter is shown in Table
3.5.
Table 3.1
Acute hepatitis B infection, 01/07/03 - 30/09/03 and year to date.
Exposure category by sex.
|
Exposure category |
3rd Quarter
01/07/03 - 30/09/03 |
Year to date
01/01/03 - 30/09/03 |
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
IDU/tattoos |
3
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
3
|
|
Overseas travel |
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
|
None identified |
-
|
-
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
|
Total |
4
|
-
|
7
|
1
|
8
|
Table 3.2
Acute hepatitis B infection, 01/07/03 - 30/09/03 and year to date.
Age group by sex.
|
Age group (years) |
3rd Quarter
01/07/03 - 30/09/03 |
Year to date
01/01/03 - 30/09/03 |
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
10 - 19 |
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
|
20 - 29 |
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
30 - 39 |
2
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
3
|
|
40 - 49 |
1
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
2
|
|
> 50 |
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
Total |
4
|
-
|
7
|
1
|
8
|
Table 3.3
Hepatitis B infection, 01/07/03 - 30/09/03 and year to date.
Case category by sex.
|
Case category |
3rd Quarter
01/07/03 - 30/09/03 |
Year to date
01/01/03 - 30/09/03 |
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
Acute infection |
4
|
-
|
7
|
1
|
8
|
|
Antigen positive-
uncertain duration |
29
|
18
|
84
|
51
|
135
|
|
Chronic carriers-
>12 months duration |
4
|
5
|
13
|
15
|
28
|
|
Total |
37
|
23
|
104
|
67
|
171
|
Table 3.4
Individuals who tested hepatitis B surface
antigen positive for the
first time, 01/07/03 - 30/09/03 and year to date.
Race by sex.
|
Racial origin |
3rd Quarter
01/07/03 - 30/09/03 |
Year to date
01/01/03 - 30/09/03 |
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
Aboriginal |
5
|
2
|
7
|
3
|
10
|
|
Asian |
10
|
7
|
34
|
24
|
58
|
|
Caucasian |
3
|
2
|
17
|
6
|
23
|
|
Other/unknown |
1
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
12
|
|
Total |
19
|
15
|
64
|
39
|
103
|
Table 3.5
Summary of hepatitis B surface antigen
tests, 01/07/03 - 30/09/03
and year to date. Laboratory by sex.
|
Laboratory |
3rd Quarter
01/07/03 - 30/09/03 |
Year to date
01/01/03 - 30/09/03 |
|
Male |
Female |
Unknown |
Male |
Female |
Unknown |
Total |
|
Public |
5026
|
7180
|
26
|
14915
|
21530
|
87
|
36532
|
|
Private |
2471
|
4147
|
-
|
7619
|
12856
|
-
|
20475
|
|
Total |
7497
|
11327
|
26
|
22534
|
34386
|
87
|
57007
|
|
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