title: Hepatitis B (surface) antigen in mothers and their infants.
abstract: Hepatitis B (surface) antigen (HBSAg) was found in the serum of 8 out of 4 245 women attending the antenatal clinic of the Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital Seven (0, 16%) were asymptomatic carriers of the antigen, while the eigth suffered from polyarteritis nodosa. Seven of the 8 babies born to these mothers were followed-up over periods of up to 18 months, and 1 has become a chronic carrier of HBSAg. The antigen was not detected in the colostrum (breast milk) of the 6 positive mothers tested, but it was present in amniotic fluid, placenta and cord blood of some of the mother-infant couples. The possible routes of transmission of the hepatitis B virus from mother to baby are discussed in the light of these findings. No cases of acute virus B hepatitis occurred in the latter months of pregnancy nor in the puerperium, among 4 088 women delivered at the hospital during this period.
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000276:immunology; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003126:Colostrum / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens; D006801:Humans; D007122:Immunoelectrophoresis; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010920:Placenta / Q000276:immunology; D010488:Polyarteritis Nodosa / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013019:South Africa; D014470:Umbilical Cord
chemical_list: D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens