THE DECLINING HBSAG CARRIAGE RATE IN PREGNANT-WOMEN IN HONG-KONG

The HBsAg status and demographic data of 2480 pregnant women who atten ded antenatal clinics at Maternal and Child Health Centres in Hong Kon g were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire over a I-week period in July 1996, to explore the underlying reason of a high er than expected HBsAg prevalence. Local women constituted 49.2% of th e sample, mainland Chinese 39.7% and others 11.1%. The overall HBsAg p revalence was 10.0%. When related to place of birth, those born in Hon g Kong had a prevalence of 8.4% whereas the prevalence of those born i n mainland China was 13.1% (P < 0.001). The overall HBsAg carriage rat e is high because of a higher rate in immigrants in the community. It is apparent that the HBsAg prevalence of local people in Hong Kong has been decreasing in the past decade. Overall, the current HBsAg carria ge rate in the local adult population is estimated to have declined to about 8%.