INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is responsible for the most frequent chronic liver disease of infectious origin in human beings with chronically infected individuals worldwide. Chronic hepatitis B results in more than 6,00,000 deaths annually from the complications of end–stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Detection of HBsAg is the most commonly used test for diagnosing acute HBV infections as well as for detecting carriers Immunochromatography assays (ICA) are economical and do not require special instrumentation for analysis and have been recommended for routine use in clinical microbiology laboratories for detection of HBsAg. It is simple to perform, is designed to be read by eye and does not require any expensive apparatus. When compared with a commercially available HEPA card kit for the detection of the same markers, ELISA was shown to be more sensitive for the detection of HBsAg.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted at Great Eastern Medical School, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA by collecting secondary data from laboratory registers of patients tested for HBsAg from March 2017 to March 2018. Data is tabulated and analysis is done using Microsoft Office Excel 2016 software. 

RESULTS: Among 22000 patients of total study group, 157 are found positive for Hepatitis B Surface Antigen accounting for 0.71%.Out of 11000 male cases 102 are positive cases [0.925] and 4 results are in determined due to weak bands accounting for 0.036%, out of 11000 female cases 55 are positive cases [0.5%] and 2 are in determined cases accounting for 0.018% showing that sero–positivity is more in males.When 157 seropositive cases kept for ELISA all showed positive cutoff value accounting for 100%.

DISCUSSION: The present study targeted towards patients who were posted for surgeries during routine screening tests, patients with jaundice and gastrointestinal symptoms and HIV patients with an objective of screening for the infection with Hepatitis B virus by detecting HBsAg using HEPA card and confirming it by ELISA.Keeping all these facts in mind there is a need for intense IEC activities regarding Hepatitis virus, its mode of transmission and about the measures which prevents transmission from person to person. As the saying ‘prevention is better than cure’ it is better to prevent Hepatitis B infection than to treat with anti–viral drugs which are associated with many side effects and have low curative value. Our research is helpful for development of national control strategies to fight against Hepatitis B infection and provides basis for managing hepatitis B national prevalence surveys and control measures and there by reduces hepatitis B endemicity in Srikakulam in near future.