摘要：Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues tobe an important cause of morbidity and mortalitythroughout the world. At present, there are approx-imately 350 million chronic HBV carriers worldwide,with rates ranging from country to country as wellas within different regions of a country.1Forexample, carrier rates are low among Caucasianpopulations in the United States of America (USA),Northern Europe and Australia (0.1–0.2%), but aremuch higher (up to 10%) in some AustralianAboriginal, Central African, and South-East Asianpopulations. Most east and South-East Asian andMiddle Eastern countries have intermediate to highendemicity
