THE GLOBAL EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HEPATITIS-B

Hepatitis B is one of the major infectious diseases of mankind with 35 0000000 chronic carriers at high risk of death from cirrhosis and prim ary liver cancer The probability becoming a chronic HBV carrier follow ing infection depends primarily on age, and ranges from 70% following mother to child transmission to less than 10% following adult infectio n The world is conceptually divided into regions of high, intermediate , and low endemicity, with predominant modes of transmission differing by region. In Asia and Africa, most transmission occurs among childre n, whereas in Western Europe and North America most transmission occur s during early adult life due to lifestyle, occupational exposures, or exposures within ethnic groups where the virus is endemic.