title: Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive and HBsAg-negative hepatitis B virus infection among mother-teenager pairs 13 years after neonatal hepatitis B virus vaccination.
abstract: It is unclear whether a mother who is negative for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) but positive for hepatitis B virus (HBV) is at potential risk for mother-to-child transmission of HBV. This study, using a paired mother-teenager population, aimed to assess whether maternal HBsAg-negative HBV infection ((hn)HBI) is a significant source of child HBV infection (HBI). A follow-up study with blood collection has been conducted on the 93 mother-teenager pairs from the initial 135 pregnant woman-newborn pairs 13 years after neonatal HBV vaccination. Serological and viral markers of HBV have been tested, and phylogenetic analysis of HBV isolates has been done. The HBI prevalence was 1.9% (1 (hn)HBI/53) for teenage children of non-HBI mothers, compared with 16.7% (1 (hn)HBI/6) for those of (hn)HBI mothers and 2.9% (1 HBsAg-positive HBV infection [(hp)HBI]/34) for those of (hp)HBI mothers. Similar viral sequences have been found in one pair of whom both the mother and teenager have had (hn)HBI. In comparison with the (hp)HBI cases, those with (hn)HBI had a lower level of HBV load and a higher proportion of genotype-C strains, which were accompanied by differentiated mutations (Q129R, K141E, and Y161N) of the "a" determinant of the HBV surface gene. Our findings suggest that mother-to-teenager transmission of (hn)HBI can occur among those in the neonatal HBV vaccination program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory on Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Qing
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Xiao-Lian
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Xue-Cai
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sheng-Xiang
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: An-Qun
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Hai-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yueping Alex
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Ying-Jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D010802:Phylogeny; D011247:Pregnancy; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines