Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) subtypes in Uganda. A preliminary report

Hepatitis B surface antigen positive sera for 34 African residents in Uganda were analysed for antigenic determinants and ethnic groups. Twenty four of the subjects belonged to Bantu ethnic groups and the rest to non-Bantu ethnic groups. Nineteen of the Bantu had antigenic subtype adw and only one of the non-Bantu had subtype adw. The association between subtypes and ethnic groups was found to be statistically significant (p less than 0.01). The results in this preliminary report agree with reports from West Africa of a high preponderance of hepatitis B surface antigenic subtype ayw among the non-Bantu West Africans.