Background: Hepatitis B virus infection is an important global health problem and India accounts for 1015% of the entire pool of HBV carriers of the world. Hepatitis B virus infection during pregnancy is associated with a high risk of maternal complications and has been reported as a leading cause of maternal mortality. Furthermore, the strong possibility of vertical transmission lends importance to diagnosing acute or chronic hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women and justifies mandatory antepartum serum HBsAg screening.
Aims & Objectives: This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among pregnant women.
Materials and Methods: The present retrospective hospital record-based study was conducted at the rural tertiary care teaching hospital in northern Maharashtra, India, over a period of 4 & 1/2 years, from January 2010 to June 2014. The screening for HBsAg, in all the serum samples collected from pregnant women, was performed using commercial kit based on the ELISA (Span Diagnostic Ltd, Surat, India), as per the manufacturers instructions. The data of those, who were found to be positive for HBsAg, was statistically analyzed with chi square test, and results were considered significant, if P value was < 0.05.
Results: The overall seroprevalence rate was 1.15% among the total 1815 pregnant women included in this study. The correlations of seroprevalence rate of HBsAg among selected age groups and according to trimester of pregnancy were found to be statistically insignificant.
Conclusion: The seroprevalence rate 1.15% of HbsAg in this study, recommends further reintensification of the mandatory screening of pregnant women for HbsAg during antenatal period, health education in particular, about modes of transmission of hepatitis B virus, and appropriate interventional measures to prevent vertical transmission in neonate.
Key words: Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg); Pregnant Women; Perinatal Transmission; Seroprevalence
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