title: Hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant mothers and its transmission to infants.
abstract: Screening for serological markers of hepatitis B virus infection was done on 500 pregnant mothers. HBsAg, AntiHBs and HBeAg were done. HBsAg was positive in 3.6%, AntiHBs in 17.4% and HBeAg in 0.4% cases. The infants born to the asymptomatic HBsAg carrier mothers were followed up to 6 months to determine the vertical transmission of HBV infection. Rate of transmission of infection from HBsAg positive mothers to infants were 16.66% irrespective of HBeAg status, whereas it was nearly 100% in case of HBeAg positive mothers. All of the HBsAg positive infants developed the antigenemia between 3-6 months of age, supporting the hypothesis that intrapartum transmission is the major mode of vertical transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, IPGM & R, Dhaka, Bangla Desh.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhter
authors.forename: M Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Talukder
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bhuiyan
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Begum
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens