PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-B AND HEPATITIS-C VIRUS-INFECTIONS IN THE GENERAL CHINESE POPULATION - RESULTS FROM A NATIONWIDE CROSS-SECTIONAL SEROEPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY OF HEPATITIS-A, HEPATITIS-B, HEPATITIS-C, HEPATITIS-D, AND HEPATITIS-E VIRUS-INFECTIONS IN CHINA, 1992

Viral hepatitis is a major public health problem in China and has a su bstantial impact on the health of people. To understand the distributi on of hepatitis virus infection in the general Chinese population and provide basis for developing and evaluating preventive procedures and public health practices on viral hepatitis control, a nationwide cross -sectional seroepidemiologic study of hepatitis virus infections was c arried out in China, 1992. Using two-stage cluster sampling, a total o f 68 000 subjects were studied, aged 1-59 years, covering all 145 nati onal disease surveillance points of 30 provinces, autonomous regions a nd municipalities. Serum specimens were assayed using commercial reage nts. Tested markers include HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, HBeAg and anti- HCV. The overall prevalence of HBsAg carrier was 9.75% of 61 702 subje cts studied (range 4.49-17.85%) in 30 provinces of China. The rate in the 1-4 age group was as high as the overall rate. There were higher r ates in both the 10-14 and 30-34 age groups, and lower in the 50-59 ag e group. There were considerable variations in the prevalence of HBsAg carrier in different regions and sex in China, with the highest rate being in middle south and lower rates in north China. The overall prev alence of HBV infection, anti-HBc and anti-HBs were 57.63%, 49.81% and 27.42%, respectively; increasing significantly with age from 38.47%, 30.08% and 15.75% in the 1-4 age group to 70.69%, 61.77% and 32.42% in 50-59 age group, respectively. The overall prevalence of HBeAg was 31 .94%, among HBsAg carriers. The overall prevalence of anti-HCV was 3.2 % of 66 975 subjects studied (range 0.9-5.1%) among 30 provinces of Ch ina, increasing significantly with age from 2.08% in the 1-4 age group to 3.96% in the 50-59 age group. There was no difference in the rate of anti-HCV by sex and living district. However, there were significan t difference in rates of anti-HCV in different geographical areas and administrative divisions in China, with the highest rates being in the northeast of China. These results indicate that hepatitis B and C are hyperendemic in China. According to characteristics of distribution a mong age, sex and regions, we suggest that the main modes of transmiss ion of the two virus are probably different in China.