Epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in Albania

Table 1 Prevalence of hepatitis B markers in Albanian refugees according to studies in Italy and Greece

Author	Sanantonio et al	Dalekos et al	Malamitsi-Puchner et al
Study region	Bari	Ioannina	Athens
Yr	1993	1995	1996
Ages	Adults	All ages	Pregnant women
No. cases	393	1025	500
% prevalence of HBsAg	19	22.2	13.4
% prevalence of anti-HBs	55	52	53

Table 2 Baseline characteristics of the study groups

Study groups	Characteristics
	No (%)	M/F (%)	Mean age (yr)	Yr
Schoolchildren	410 (10.6)	264 (64.4)/ 146 (35.6)	15.7 ± 1.2	2004
Students	666 (17.2)	340 (51.1)/ 326 (48.9)	23.1 ± 1.7	2005
Military	500 (12.9)	500 (100)/ 0 (0)	19.2 ± 2.3	2005
Casual blood donors	1286 (33.1)	987 (76.6)/ 299 (23.3)	32.4 ± 4.8	2004
Voluntary blood donors	378 (9.7)	263 (69.6) 115 (30.3)	40.1 ± 5.1	2005
Pregnant women	640 (16.5)	0 (0) 640 (100)	27.4 ± 4.9	2006
Total	3880	2354 (60.7) 1526 (39.3)	26.3 ± 6.2	2004-2006

Table 3 HBsAg and anti-HBs prevalence in different study groups

Study groups	No. cases	Prevalence (%)
		HBsAg-positive	antiHBs-positive
Schoolchildren	410	48 (11.8)	87 (21.2)
Students	666	58 (8.7)	247 (37.2)
Military	500	54 (10.6)	124 (24.7)
Casual blood donors	1286	115 (8.9)	293 (22.8)
Voluntary blood donors	378	36 (9.6)	112 (29.7)
Pregnant women	640	47 (7.3)	232 (36.3)
Total	3880	358 (9.5)	1095 (28.7)