Hepatitis B virus infection and liver disease in Ethiopian immigrants to Israel.

We assessed infection with hepatitis B virus in 357 Ethiopians who immigrated to Israel. Hepatitis B virus infection, as measured by the presence in the serum of HBsAg, anti-HBs, or anti-HBc, started at an early age (35% at the age of 1 to 4 years) and reached an overall rate of 98% in individuals over 40 years old. A high rate of HBsAg antigenemia in the young age group (19% at the age of 1 to 8 years) was associated with HBeAg and serum hepatitis B virus DNA. However, hepatitis B virus DNA was rarely detected in HBsAg-positive serum of older individuals who were anti-HBe-positive. No hepatitis B virus DNA sequences were detected in the serum of individuals who had anti-HBs. Despite the extremely high rate of hepatitis B virus infection that occurred at an early age, no clinical evidence of chronic liver disease in this population was detected.