Seven years experience of acute hepatitis B in a regional department of infectious diseases and tropical medicine

Summary A total of 280 cases of acute hepatitis B arising between 1979 and 1985 were retrospectively reviewed. Following an increase in the number of cases in 1983 and 1984, the incidence declined sharply in 1985. The main risk for infection was intravenous drug misuse (51·1%). Only one patient died from fulminant hepatitis. After leaving hospital, 110 patients were kept under surveillance. None suffered from chronic liver disease and none became a carrier of hepatitis B virus.