Vaccine against hepatitis B in children: prevention of hepatitis in a pediatric hemodialysis unit.

In a pediatric hemodialysis unit, 10 children (aged 1 to 14 years) with chronic renal failure were immunized against hepatitis B infection (HB) by means of a vaccine. The vaccine was prepared by purification of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HGs Ag) from human sera and was formalin inactivated. Seven children were undergoing periodic hemodialysis and three were still managed with conservative treatment.

[Hepatitis B virus and hepatoma: evidence for a cytoplasmic tumor antigen in transformed hepatocytes].

A tumoural antigen (HBV/T Ag) has been found in the cytoplasm of the human hepatoma cell line PLC/PRF/5 by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase assays using anti-sera from Senegalese patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The same antigen was detected in PHC tissues. According to the data obtained with serum and tissue controls the HBV/T Ag-anti-HBV/T system seems associated with transformation of hepatocytes by hepatitis B virus.

[Epidemiology and pathologic results of chronic carriers state of hepatitis B in Mali].

The HB antigen of the hepatitis B (HB) virus, studied by counter immunoelectrophoresis shows a prevalence of 8.7% in 1,860 rural Malians and 11.3% in 764 blood donors from Bamako.

Detection of hepatitis B virus-specific DNA in the genomes of human hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis tissues.

Hepatitis B virus-related DNA was detected in the chromosomal DNA of three out of seven hepatocellular carcinomas and two out of five cirrhosis samples examined, by means of the blot-hybridization technique, described by Southern (1975). The integration patterns were not identical but some similarities raise the question of whether there are some preferred sites of viral integration.

Epidemiological and serological study of hepatitis A virus outbreaks in France: a comparison between immunoadherence and radioimmunoassay.

An epidemiological study and the simultaneous evaluation of anti-HAV antibody using radio immunoassay (RIA) and immunoadherence hemagglutination assay (IAHA) was performed during three hepatitis A epidemics in the Tours area (France). Fifty-seven sera from 35 subjects with viral hepatitis type A and 16 sera from nine children who did not develop any clinical signs of hepatitis were studied. The more explosive epidemic occurred in an institution for mentally retarded children (attack rate 68%).

Efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine in prevention of early HBsAg carrier state in children. Controlled trial in an endemic area (Senegal).

Three doses of inactivated hepatitis B vaccine were given at one-month intervals to Senegalese children aged less than two years. A control group received diphtheria/tetanus/polio vaccine. Of those HB vaccine recipients who were seronegative before immunisation, 94.

Frequency of inapparent hepatitis A infection.

The frequency of inapparent hepatitis A infection estimated by the detection of IgM anti-HAV in the absence of clinical signs, was found to be very low in two institutions for children. Only 15.4% of the infections are inapparent in department of pediatric psychiatry.

Primary hepatocellular carcinoma in intertropical Africa: relationship between age and hepatitis B virus etiology.

Clinical observations of patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) at Le Dantec Hospital, Dakar, Senegal, were studied to determine a correlation with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Of the 103 patients with PHC, 80 had an active HBV infection (HBsAg and/or anti-HBc); 23 showed signs of previous HBV infection (anti-HBs and anti-HBc). The two groups were similar in the detection of alpha-fetoprotein (approximately 60%) and in the major clinical findings: hepatomegaly, 76.

Hepatitis B core antigen in hepatocytes of patients with chronic active hepatitis.

Hepatitis B core antigen was demonstrated in the hepatocytes of 28 of 40 patients with chronic active hepatitis in whose sera hepatitis B surface antigen was not detectable by radioimmunoassay. This finding suggests that in these patients, despite hepatitis B surface antigen being undetectable in serum, the liver disease is the consequence of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus.

Hepatitis A diagnosis in man: radioimmunoassay for hepatitis A antigen detection in faeces.

A new radioimmunoassay (RIA) procedure using a double-sandwich technique was developed for the detection of hepatitis A antigen (HAV) in crude faecal extracts for patients involved in three outbreaks of type A hepatitis. Stools were obtained from 24 residents suffering from acute hepatitis A and from six children who remained asymptomatic throughout the epidemic. In addition, the HAV detection was performed in sera from 13 patients with hepatitis.

Hepatitis B virus antigens in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

The presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens was examined in specimens of liver tissue obtained at necropsy from black Senegalese patients suffering from primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). The results were correlated with markers of hepatitis B infection in serum. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and core antigen (HBcAg) were sought for in 15 liver extracts.

[Hepatitis A of children. Seroepidemiological study among French urban population (author's transl)].

A prevalence survey of hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV) was conducted among 145 children living in the area of Tours (France). Thirty-four per cent of children's sera was found anti-HAV positive when tested by both immune adherence hemagglutination assay (IAHA) and specific radio-immunoassay (RIA). The prevalence of anti-HAV among infants less than one year and children between 1 to 5 years, was 35 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

[Hepatitis B vaccine: characterization of the polypeptides of hepatitis B surface antigen (author's transl)].

In order to realize a new kind of hepatitis B vaccine, the polypeptide components of the outer-coat of the hepatitis B virus have been studied. The characterization of the polypeptides of purified hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was performed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Seven polypeptides were observed, designated P1 to P7, according to their increasing molecular weight: P1 (MW = 24,000), P2 (MW = 32,500) and P6 (MW = 78,000) represented the major components.