These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Prevaccination screening of medical and dental students. Should low levels of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen preclude vaccination?
    Author: Perrillo RP, Parker ML, Campbell C, Sanders GE, Strang SP, Regenstein F.
    Journal: JAMA; 1983 Nov 11; 250(18):2481-4. PubMed ID: 6226808.
    Abstract:
    The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers in 484 medical and 329 dental students was studied. Three students (0.9%) were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) reactive, and 46 students (5.7%) were reactive for antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs). There was no difference in anti-HBs frequency between medical and dental students, and the prevalence of this marker was not associated with year in school. Of the 46 reactors, eight (17%) were nonreproducible and 38 (83%) were reproducibly reactive when the same samples were reanalyzed. Of note, all nonreproducible reactors exhibited anti-HBs sample-negative control (S/N) ratios of less than 10, and none were positive for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Nineteen (50%) of the reproducible reactors had anti-HBs S/N ratios equal to or greater than 10, and only 15 (39%) were anti-HBc positive. In view of these observations, we do not recommend HBV screening in a vaccine program for health students. Due to the frequency with which low-level anti-HBs reactors without anti-HBc are found to be nonreproducibly positive, we are concerned by the potential overinterpretation of such results before the formulation of decisions about the need for vaccination.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]