title: [Special problems of virus hepatitis B in pediatrics (author's transl)].
abstract: Virus hepatitis B occurs less frequently in infants and children than in adults; a subclinical and chronic course of this disease however seems to occur more often in childhood. Especially after oral infection the growing organism does not seem to be capable of building up a cellular immune response sufficient to eliminate the virus. If a woman becomes infected with hepatitis B during the last trimester of pregnancy of or immediately before delivery, the newborn has a chance of 80% to become infected during birth himself. This so called vertical transmission may be compared to a large transfusion of HBs-Ag-positive blood. Infection of the neonates will lead in most cases to a probably life-long HBs-Ag-carrier status. A fulminant, that is to say lethal course of acute hepatitis B in early infancy was found mostly in cases, where the mothers were carriers of high titer HBs-Ag without clinical symptoms whatsoever. For that reason immediate immune prophylaxis with anti HBs-globuline is mandatory in newborns with neonatal hepatitis B infection, whose mothers are HBs-Ag-positive.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens
vernacular_title: Specielle Probleme der Virushepatitis B in der Pädiatrie.