Australia Antigen and Hepatitis: A Comprehensive Review
Abstract
AUSTRALIA ANTIGEN AND HEPATITIS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW* Authors: Baruch S Blumberg . Alton I. Sutnick W. Thomas London Irving Millman The Institute for Cancer Research Philadelphia, Pa. Howard F. Taswell Mayo Graduate School of Medicine University of Minnesota Rochester, Minn. Referee: INTRODUCTION The first publication referring to what was later known as Australia antigen [Au(l)] appeared in 1964.â In 1963 a precipitating antibody which reacted with a serum from an Australian aborigine had been detected in the blood of a hemophilia patient. Following a practice common in human genetics, a geographic term âAustralia antigenâ was applied to the reacting material in the blood of the aborigine. After this initial finding we initiated a survey of sera from normal and diseased populations and established that the agent in the blood was persistent and that it could be stored for weeks, months, or years. and retain its reactivity. Serial samples from many subjects had been stored at -25OC in the blood collection of the Institute for Cancer Research for up to 10 years. These were tested and some of the initial results are shown in Table 1. From this early survey of populations we determined that Australia antigen is rare