Hepatitis B Infection: What The Primary Care Doctors Should Know.

Hepatitis B infection is a global public health problem and causes significant morbidity and mortality. The worldwide prevalence of chronic hepatitis B infection is about 400 million people, and it causes 500 thousand deaths each year.1,2 The prevalence of chronic HBV infection is high (>8%) in certain part of Asia and Southeast Asia, including China, Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines.1-3 In Malaysia about 1.1 million people are thought to be chronically infected with hepatitis B virus. The estimated prevalence of HBsAg among the population is approximately 4.7%. These data are obtained from Malaysian Liver Foundation in 1998.8