Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus among Patients at a Tertiary Care Centre in North Karnataka, India

Countries are classified on the basis of endemicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection into high (8% or more), intermediate (27%) or low (less than 2%) incidence countries. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection in India ranges from 2% to 10% as shown by different studies (1, 2, 3). India therefore comes under the intermediate to high endemicity category. HBV infection is predominantly acquired at an early age in developing countries, which includes vertical transmission from mother to child, perinatal transmission, and horizontal transmission from child to child. However HBV can also be transmitted sexually (both homo and hetero sexual) accounts for a majority of the transmission occurring in adult life (4).