title: Non-A hepatitis B virus genotypes in antenatal clinics, United Kingdom.
abstract: In the United Kingdom, the National Screening Programme for identification of hepatitits B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women uses HBV e antigen (HBeAg) and antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe) as markers of infectivity to determine use of immunoglobulin for hepatitis B. Serum samples from 114 HBV-infected women were analyzed. Viral loads correlated with HBeAg/anti-HBe status and viral genotypes. Among 95 mothers whose serum contained anti-HBe, viral loads ranged between undetectable and 8.6 x 10(6) IU/mL (median 228 IU/mL). Ten (10.5%) of these mothers had plasma viral loads >10(4) IU/mL; 6 were infected with genotype E and one each with genotypes A, B, C, and D. All viruses had precore stop codon or basal core promoter mutations. Preponderance of genotypes other than A among antenatal mothers in the United Kingdom reflects increasing globalization and trends in immigration. HBeAg serostatus is no longer sufficiently accurate for inferring potential infectivity of pregnant HBV carriers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, University College London Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. s.dervisevic@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dervisevic
authors.forename: Samreen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ijaz
authors.forename: Shahneila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaudry
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tedder
mesh_terms: D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens