Hepatitis B virus infection in Ethiopian immigrants to Israel

Two groups of immigrants from Ethiopia, one of 86 and the other of 165 individuals, aged 0-40, were examined for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in 1987-88, 3-7 years after their arrival in Israel. The results were compared with those obtained in the same age-group among Ethiopians who immigrated to Israel in 1980-82. The immigrants were found to be in good physical condition, their liver function tests were normal and no clinical evidence of chronic liver disease was found. Of the 22 children aged 0-4, 16 had anti-HBs as a result of vaccination at birth against HBV and they were excluded from the comparative study. In the age-groups 5-40 there was no significant change in the percentage of individuals positive for HBsAg, anti-HBs or anti-HBc only, compared with the group examined in 1980-82. There were two significant findings in this study: a) In 1987-88 [corrected], 8-9% of HBsAg-positive individuals had HBeAg and 64-81% had anti-HBe, while in 1980-82, 36% of those positive for HBsAg had HBeAg and only 25% had anti-HBe. b) At the time of arrival recent infection by HBV was indicated by the presence of IgM anti-HBc in 57% of those positive for HBsAg and 21% in whom anti-HBc was the sole serological HBV marker. In 1987-88 no IgM anti-HBc was found in HBsAg-positive persons or in those with anti-HBc only. These results indicate that most HBV infections in this population had occurred before their arrival in Israel. There is a profound change in the epidemiology of HBV infection in this Ethiopian population following immigration, which is probably due to environmental changes as well as to vaccination against HBV of all young children aged less than or equal to 3 years.