The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV markers mainly in
children with thalassaemia and also others receiving regular blood transfusions. In Sri Lanka
thalassaemic children and other multi-transfused children are a high risk group for HBV
infection. Thus, these children should receive vaccination to protect against the infection. In
addition, the risk of transmission of HBV infection through transfusions should be
minimized by the use of voluntary donations, stringent donor selection measures and the of
sensitive screening assays
