[Relations between hepatitis B surface antigen and parasitic diseases: observations in patients with ancylostomiasis and schistosomiasis].

Hepatitis B antigen carriage was studied in Somalia in 155 patients with ancylostomiasis, with urinary schistosomiasis and with leprosy (lepromatosus and tuberculoid type and leprosy with schistosomiasis). The results have showed a significantly (p less than 0,001) higher frequency of HBsAg among the patients with ancylostomiasis (33,33%) and with urinary schistosomiasis (25,92%) than either the leprosy patients (9,67% in the L type and 6,89% in the T type) or the controls (11,11%); in the leprosy patients with schistosomiasis the frequency was 40,0%. The role of some penetrating skin parasites in the epidemiology of hepatitis B was discussed.