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Saul Krugman, MD

JAMA. 1985;254(22):3218-3219.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Ten years have elapsed since enactment of the Congressional Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL94-142). This legislation mandated public education for children with retarded mental development as well as for those with other handicaps. During the past decade many thousands of children, formerly residents of large state institutions, have been admitted to special education classes in public and private schools throughout the nation.

Extensive seroepidemiological surveys by many investigators have revealed that the risk of a child contracting hepatitis B in a large state institution may range between 50% and 90%. Moreover, about 5% to 20% of those infected may become hepatitis B carriers.^1,2 In contrast, mentally retarded children who have lived at home since birth have the same negligible risk of infection as do normal children. Thus, more than 95% of these children are susceptible. Extrapolating from extensive serologic studies in blood donors, it is likely that . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
New York University School of Medicine

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610.

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