The incidence of Australia antigen in hospital staff members

A survey of Sydney Hospital staff members for Au antigenaemia was performed during a six-month period in 1972. Nine hundred and forty-six staff members were tested by the immunoelectroosmophoresis (IEOP) method and two asymptomatic chronic carriers were detected. Subsequently, it has been hospital policy to test all new staff members. Eight hundred and ninety additional sera from staff members were obtained and 12 were found to be Au positive. Of these, only one had evidence of liver disease. The results show a slight increase in the incidence of Au positivity in hospital staff members as compared with that of the general Australian population. However, in our series the majority of chronic carriers were immigrants from countries with known high incidence of Au antigen positivity. We therefore postulate that this increase is due not to the hospital environment, but to the carrier's country of origin.