Estimates of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the Northern Territory

Authors

  • Nicholas Wood National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Westmead, New South Wales
  • Josephine Backhouse National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Westmead, New South Wales; Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales
  • Heather F Gidding National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Westmead, New South Wales; Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales
  • Gwendolyn L Gilbert National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Westmead, New South Wales; Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales
  • Gary Lum Northern Territory Government Pathology Service, Tiwi, Northern Territory
  • Peter B McIntyre National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Westmead, New South Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2005.29.29

Keywords:

hepatitis B, HBV, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Indigenous health

Abstract

Recent estimates of the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection obtained from the first national serosurvey in Australia in 1996–99 range from 91,500 to 163,500 persons (0.49%–0.87%). A large proportion of these infections is known to occur in selected populations, including Indigenous people. Studies in the 1980s and early 1990s estimated that nearly half of all Indigenous schoolchildren had serological markers of HBV infection. A recent report showed that HBV notification and hospitalisation rates in Australia are at least four times higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The seroprevalence of HBV infection is likely to differ significantly from the national rate in some areas, particularly the Northern Territory, where approximately 25 per cent of the population is Indigenous and universal infant HBV immunisation has been in place since 1990.

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References

O'Sullivan BG, Gidding HG, Law M, Kaldor JM, Gilbert GL, Dore GJ. Estimates of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Australia, 2000. Aust N Z J Public Health 2004;28:212–216.

Gardner ID, Wan X, Simms PA, Worswick DA, Burrell CJ, Mathews JD. Hepatitis B virus markers and staff in Northern Territory schools. Med J Aust 1992;156:638–641.

Burrell CJ, Cameron AS, Hart G, Melbourne J, Beal RW. Hepatitis B reservoirs and attack rates in an Australian community. Med J Aust 1983;2:492–496.

National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases. Vaccine preventable diseases and vaccination coverage in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Australia, 1999 to 2002. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28 Suppl 1.

Kaldor JM, Plant AJ, Thompson SC, Longbottom H, Rowbottom J. The incidence of hepatitis B infection in Australia: an epidemiological review. Med J Aust 1996;165:322–326.

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Published

01/09/05

How to Cite

Wood, Nicholas, Josephine Backhouse, Heather F Gidding, Gwendolyn L Gilbert, Gary Lum, and Peter B McIntyre. 2005. “Estimates of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection in the Northern Territory”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 29 (September):289-90. https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2005.29.29.

Issue

Vol. 29 (2005)

Section

Short report

Categories

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Copyright (c) 2005 Communicable Diseases Intelligence

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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