Sir,

Using late x agglutination test (Human-West Ger­many), 91 medical personnel (54 doctors, 37 nurses) were screened for HBsAg. There were 52 males and 39 females whose ages ranged from 18-45 years (mean 26 years) and their mean hospital stay was 5.6 years. Three (3.3%) out of 91 cases were positive for HBsAg, of these two were doctors (both males) and one nurse. HBsAg carrier rates of 10.7% aS 3.9% were reported from Islamabad in blood donors both from Army and hi general population1 while an HBsAg positivity rate of 11.3% and 11.7% was reported from Peshawar amongst blood donors and medical students respectively2 The positivity in health care personnel in Bahawalpur is reported to be 3.7%. The variations in figures of HBsAg positivity is probably an underestimation of the actual figures because of differences in the high/low risk groups that were screened and the method of screen­ing used. The present figures of 3.3% in the high risk group are probably because screening with more sensitive methods like RIA or HA are likely to pick up more cases.

Yours faithfully
Shabbir Ahmed Nasir Abdul Hameed Anjum Muhammad Inayatullah Siraj Munir Ahmad Tarin
Department of Medicine, Nishtar Medical College, Multan.

1. Kazmi, K., Ghafoor, A., Burney, M.I. Prevalence of HBsAg among blood donors of Islamabad. Pakistan J. Med. Res., 1985; 24: 181.
2. Khadim, M.l. Prevalence of hepatitis B antigen in various population groups of NWFP JPMA., 1982; 32: 122.