• Mohammad Mehdi Hayatbakhsh, Sodaif Darvish Moghaddam, Mohammad Javad Zahedi, Mehdi Shafiei, Mahdie Khalily Zade, and Mohammad Assare.
• Internal Medicine Department, Afzalipoor Hospital, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. mahkhalilyzade@gmail.com, mkhalili@kmu.ac.ir.
• Arch Iran Med. 2015 Jan 1; 18 (1): 34-8.

ObjectivesHepatitis B virus infection is one of the most common causes of acute and chronic hepatitis worldwide. Furthermore, since most people with hepatitis B virus are asymptomatic, timely diagnosis is important for prevention. This study has evaluated the prevalence of Hepatitis B seromarkers in marriage candidates.DesignIn this Cross-sectional study, 370 marriage volunteers selected by the simple sampling method were investigated in 2011 - 2012.ResultsA total of 185 men and 185 women were investigated. Mean Age of participants was 24.7 years. The prevalence rates of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) and anti-hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) were 1.1%, 47.6% and 8.9% respectively. Frequency of HBsAg was 0.5% and 1.6% in men and women respectively. The prevalence of anti-HBs was 43.8% in men and 51.45% in women. Anti-HBs was more common in young people and those with higher levels of education and positive history of vaccination. The prevalence of anti-HBc was 8.1% and 9.7% in men and women respectively.ConclusionAlthough Kerman is a low endemic area, due to the high risk of transmission to the spouse and offspring, screening for HBV study before marriage is recommended.

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