Hepatitis B Elimination - Preventing Vertical Transmission is must

Abstract

The proportion of babies that became HBV chronic carriers is about 10% to 30% for mothers who are HBsAg positive but HBeAg negative. However, the incidence of perinatal infections is higher, i.e. 70% to 90%, when the mother is also HBeAg positive [3]. There are three possible routes of transmission of HBV from infected mothers to infants: transplacental transmission of HBV in utero, natal transmission during delivery or post-natal transmission during care of infant or through breast milk [4]. Though several studies on epidemiology of viral hepatitis in pregnancy are available, there is paucity of data on maternal to child transmission (MTCT) of HBV during pregnancy.