Abstract
To investigate the mother-to-infant transmission of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), cord sera from HBV-carrier mothers were examined. Among 4, 604 pregnant women examined over 10 years (1980-1989), 68 cases (1.4 %) were found to be HBs antigen-positive. Of these positive cases, 22 cases (32.3 %) proved HBe antigen-positive. HBs antigen was present in one (4%) out of 21 cord sera examined, and HBe antigen in 15 (75 %) out of 20. HBe antibody and HBc antibody were fou-nd in cord sera, transferred via the placenta. The total IgM in cord sera proved to be more than 20mg/dl in 7 out of 42 infants born to HBs antigen-positive mothers. Two infants including one with an IgM of more than 60 mg/dl, born to HBe antigen-positive mothers who received neither HBIG (anti-HBs human immunoglobulin) nor HB vaccine postnatally, were discovered to be HBV carriers at 3 months of age.
?Since 1985, infants born to HBe antigen-positive mothers have received HBIG (at birth and at 2 months) and HBV vaccine (at 2, 3 and 5 months), under the national program aimed at prevent-ing mother-infant HBV transmission. Following this, only one infant (6.2 %) out of 16 born to HBe antigen-positive mothers became positive for HBV. In short, HBV carriers numbered 3 infants in total according to our follow-up study lasting a minimum of 2 years after birth.
