ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to estimate the amount of childhood hepatitis B virus transmission in children born in the UK, a very low-prevalence country, that is preventable only by universal hepatitis B immunization of infants. Oral fluid specimens were collected from schoolchildren aged 7-11 years in four inner city multi-ethnic areas and tested for the presence of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Those found positive or indeterminate were followed up with testing on serum to confirm their hepatitis B status. The overall prevalence of anti-HBc in children was low [0.26%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.14-0.44]. The estimated average annual incidence of hepatitis B was estimated to be 29.26/100 000 children (95% CI 16.00-49.08). The total incidence that is preventable only by a universal infant immunization programme in the UK was estimated to be between 5.00 and 12.49/100 000. The study demonstrates that the extent of horizontal childhood hepatitis B virus transmission is low in children born in the UK and suggests that schools in the UK are an uncommon setting for the transmission of the virus. Targeted hepatitis B testing and immunization of migrants from intermediate- and high-prevalence countries is likely to be a more effective measure to reduce childhood transmission than a universal infant immunization programme.
Subject(s)
Ethnicity , Hepatitis B/epidemiology , Hepatitis B/transmission , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Emigrants and Immigrants , England/epidemiology , Family , Female , Hepatitis B/ethnology , Hepatitis B/prevention & control , Hepatitis B virus/immunology , Humans , Male , Population Surveillance , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The phenotypic nonspecificity of many forms of X-linked mental retardation has hampered attempts to classify them into clinically homogeneous groups. One such condition, described by Clark and Baraitser [1987: Am J Med Genet 26:13-15], has been the subject of a single pedigree report to date. We now describe a further pedigree whose affected members share many manifestations with those reported by Clark and Baraitser, and we consider the possible distinction between this condition and Atkin-Flaitz syndrome.