PROTEIN CALORIE MALNUTRITION AND INFECTION WITH HEPATITIS-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN

Abstract

The incidence of hepatitis-associated antigen (HAA) in normal Thai adults is approximately 10%. When Thai children were studied for the age-specific prevalence of serum hepatitis-associated antigen it was found that the adult frequency is reached at about the age of 5 years. Children below this age showed a lower prevalence, with serum hepatitis-associated antigen being significantly more common in boys. In young children with severe protein-calorie malnutrition, however, serum HAA was found in 29% of 48 patients during their eight-week hospitalization, with no sex-difference in the incidence of antigenemia. In three of the four patients who were antigenemic throughout the period of observation the titer of serum hepatitis-associated antigen declined significantly as the patients' nutritional status improved. It is suggested that undernutrition and its associated defects in host defense mechanisms contributes to an increased susceptibility to infection with hepatitis-associated antigen. This may in part help to explain the relatively high prevalence of hepatitis-associated antigen infection as found in tropical countries.