[Hepatitis B virus infection in the school milieu of Kiffa and Selibaby, Mauritania].

Our survey was concerned with searching for different markers of Hepatitis B virus infection in 267 primary and secondary school children in two Mauritanian sites in the south and south-east of the country. The results showed that for the surveyed subjects, 16.8% were carriers of HBs antigen, 21% of anti-HBs antibodies, 50.2% of anti-HBc antibodies and 45.4% of anti-HBe antibodies. Furthermore, 28.9% of the carriers of HBs antigen were also of HBe antigen. In all, 32.2% of the subjects had not been exposed to the Hepatitis B virus. These results confirmed the serious problem posed to public health by Hepatitis B infection and should prompt a programme to combat it.