Abstract

The Australian antigen or hepatitis-associated antigen (HAA) is of value in detecting so-called long incubation, or MS-2 bepatitis.1–3 The increasing availability of methods for testing for HAA provides us with an important routine laboratory method. This is particularly important because of current evidence that the so-called serum hepatitis (MS-2 hepatitis) appears to be communicable by means other than inject ions 4–6 Steigmann and associates7 recognized the association between hepatitis and drug addiction. Other authors 8–13 have reported an apparent increased incidence of hepatitis in drug addicts who used hypodermic needle injections for self-administration of drugs.