Hepititis

We performed a prospective study to assess the risk of patients acquiring infection following routine professional contact with two dentists incubating type B viral hepatitis. Serum samples from patients exposed during the six weeks before onset of hepatitis in the dentists were tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and for antibody to the antigen shortly after illness developed and again six months later. Household members of exposed patients served as a control group. None of the exposed patients or controls became ill with hepititis, and none developed antigen...

In 7 unselected necropsy cases of clinically diagnosed periarteritis nodosa, the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) in the cytoplasm and nuclei of hepatocytes indicated an ongoing infection with hepititis B virus (HBV). In all these cases histologic changes found in the liver varied from "minimal" to chronic aggressive hepatitis. In all the cases, deposits of HBsAg, immunoglobulins, beta1C-globulin and C1q were detected in vascular lesions. That these deposits could represent HBsAg-anti-HBs immune complexes was supported by demonstrating their strong binding of guinea pig complement and by the successful elution of all HBsAg and part of the immunoglobulin from these deposits by treatment with buffers known to dissociate antigen-antibody bonds but not with phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7...