Hepatitis-associated antigen, HAA, was measured .by the modified method of micro-Ouchterlonydouble diffusion using agarose gel in phosphate buffered saline-EDTA, pH 7. 8, in the patients with. acute viral hepatitis to evaluate the occurrence of HAA among Korean patients with sporadic viral hepatitis, and the difference of clinical course and biochemical tests between HAA positive hepatitis and acute viral hepatitis without detectable HAA was compared.
The results obtained were as follows: HAA was detected iu 28 among 49 cases of acute viral hepatitis(57. 1%) The occurrence of AA was found to be 61.9°0(13/21) when tested within two : weeks of jaundice, whereas it was 53. 6%1(15/28) when tested over a period of 2 weeks of jaundice. It was assumed by, these findings that the majority of acute viral hepatitis in Korea, one of the known endemic area of sporadic hepatitis, ould be the classical type of "serum hepatitis”. The titer of HAA in HAA positive hepatitis was oted to, be lower than that of HAA carriers. HAA disappeared. within 14 days to 50 days from the onset of initial symptoms in the pa ients with typical HAA-positive acute hepatitis, and the time at which HAA was no longer detected was about 14 days before elevated s-GOT activities returned to normal value. Elevation of serum total bilirubin and s-GOT activity persisted, somewhat longer period of in HAA positive acute hepatitis as compared to acute viral hepatitis without detectable HAA. Then compared to acute viral hepatitis without detectable HAA, relapsing or recurrent type of acute iral hepatitis was observed more common in acute viral hepatitis -with detectable HAA, and prolonged type or submassive hepatic necrosis were prone to be observed more common in patients with positive hepatitis in whom HAA test were persistently positive.
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