National Journal of Laboratory Medicine (Oct 2016)
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus in Pregnant Women at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Eastern India
Abstract
Introduction: Hepatitis B virus is a DNA virus causing hepatitis in humans. It is thought to be responsible for chronic liver diseases in 75% of cases. Besides other routes, vertical transmission from mother to child is an important one. Testing for Hepatitis B virus infection during pregnancy will help in managing the infants of positive patients and improve their future. Though studies have been carried out on Hepatitis B virus infection in different sub-groups like blood donors, information regarding its incidence in pregnant women is less from our state. Aim: This study was aimed at throwing light on the magnitude of Hepatitis virus transmission among pregnant women visiting our hospital and its future implications. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was carried out in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at IGIMS, Patna to know the magnitude of transmission of Hepatitis B virus infection in the pregnant population visiting our OPD (booked) and labour room (unbooked) during one year from March 2015 to February 2016. All pregnant women were tested after counselling and informed consent for HBsAg. All negative for it were immunised after delivery. Those who tested positive were further tested for HBeAg, Anti HBe antibodies and HBV DNA levels and referred to gastroenterologist. Results: Altogether 1150 pregnant women were screened for HBsAg of them 45 tested positive (3.9%), 5 tested positive for HBeAg (11.11%) and 10 had AntiHBe antibodies (22.22%). The seroprevalence rate for Hepatitis B virus infection was 3.9% in this study. This corresponds with the national average of 2-5%. Conclusion: Screening of pregnant women for HBsAg infection is an important tool to decrease the risk of vertical transmission by timely giving immunoprophylaxis to neonates of infected mothers. Also it provides the opportunity to immunise those women who are negative for HBsAg with Hepatitis B vaccine after delivery.
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