Prevalence of Hepatitis B and C Virus Markers in Outpatients of Mongolian General Hospitals

In East Asian countries, the prevalence of viral hepatitis has been reported to be high, but precise data for each country remained to be investigated. Here we report the prevalence of viral markers of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in outpatient volunteers visiting two general hospitals in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. One hundred fifty sera were tested for HBs antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBs, and anti-HCV by Counting Immunoassay. The backgrounds of groups of patients positive for HBsAg and negative for anti-HCV (group 1; n=18), negative for HBsAg and positive for anti-HCV (group 2: n=47), positive for both HBsAg and anti-HCV (group 3; n=25), and negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV (group 4; n=60) were compared. The prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HCV in this study group was 28.7%, 39.3% and 48.0%, respectively. Sugjects of group 1 (mean±SD; 31.3±12.4 years old) were younger than those of group 4 (39.2±14.3; p