Hepatitis B antigen and antibody among staff members of an Israeli hospital and a kibbutz population.

Until recently, hepatitis type B was thought to be transmitted parenterally. However, much evidence has appeared regarding non-parenteral transmission. Hospital personnel are exposed both ways to this disease. We compared the incidence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (anti-HBs) among 388 workers at a major medical center in Israel with 203 kibbutz residents, using radioimmunoassay procedures. Of the hospital personnel, 1.8% were found to carry the antigen and 23.9% the antibody. In contrast, 0.5% of kibbutz personnel were antigen-positive and 11.8% carried the antibody. The highest incidence of antibody was found among people born in middle-eastern countries outside of Israel. These results show a significant increase in the exposure of hospital personnel to hepatitis B virus. A marked increase in the frequency of sera positive for anti-HBs occurred after the first year of hospital work.