ABSTRACT
HBV is transmitted parenterally or by intimate, usually sexual, contact. The carriage rate of HBsAg varies from 0.1-0.2% in Western countries to 10-15% in Africa and the Far East, and as high as 85% in Australian Aborigines. In high endemic areas, transmission is both vertical (i.e. during birth) and horizontal (i.e. close personal contact in childhood).
