Prevalence and epidemiologic significance of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen in Greece.

The diagnostic and epidemiologic significance of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) detected by complement fixation was studied in a sample of 412 healthy persons, 0-70 years old of both sexes living in the Athens area. The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections was found to be very high (26.5%) and the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier rate (4.1%) among the highest in Europe. Anti-HBc was detected in 63 (15.3%) of the examined infection. The prevalence of anti-HBc (without HBsAg or anti-HBs) increased with age, while the HBsAg carrier rate declined in older age groups. It was also found that the frequency of anti-HBc persists for a shorter period than the anti-HBs after HBV infection. These data stress the importance of anti-HBc testing in increasing the sensitivity of the detection of potentially infective HBV carriers as well as in studying various epidemiologic aspects of HBV infection.