hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection and its sequelae such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma has remained a serious public health problem throughout the world. the who strategy for effective control of hbv infection and its complications is mass vaccination of neonates and children within the framework of expanded programme on immunization (epi). vaccination with hepatitis b surface antige...

BACKGROUND/AIMS To investigate serological patterns of hepatitis B based on electrochemiluminescent immunoassays and the distribution characteristics of these patterns in hospitalized children and adolescents in Zhejiang, China between 2006 and 2010. METHODS Five serological markers, including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), antibody to hepatitis B surface ...

OBJECTIVE To establish the hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B 'e' antigen seroprevalence of mothers and their children aged 6-36 months and to assess the risk of hepatitis B transmission occurring in infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen positive mothers in Pakistan. METHODS Mothers and their children were selected from eight districts of three provinces that have been identifi...

Perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus is the infection of infants at birth by mothers who are positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Around 85% of babies born to mothers who are also positive for hepatitis B e antigen become infected. Immunoprophylaxis initiated shortly after birth— that is, after exposure to the virus—can prevent perinatal transmission. Passive prophylaxis with hepati...

Serum samples from 214 blood donors in the United Kingdom who were carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were examined for hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by DNA:DNA hybridisation and for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and its antibody. One fifth of the donors carried infectious virus in their circulation. The presence of hepatitis B virus DNA correlated well with that of...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Perinatal exposure is an important mode of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission, resulting in chronic disease in ∼ 90% of infected infants. Immunoprophylaxis recommended for infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen-positive mothers reduces up to 95% of perinatal HBV infections. We sought to identify factors associated with perinatal HBV transmission. METHODS We an...

More than 300 million people worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Considering the very short generation time for a virus, and the high error rate associated with the reverse transcription step of HBV replication, decades of HBV infection are probably equivalent to million years of human evolution. The most important selective force during the natural course of HBV in...

The clinical relevance of the e antigen-antibody system was investigated in 61 people persistently positive for hepatitis-B surface antigen, including 22 healthy carriers. The e antigen was not detectable in any of the healthy carriers, whereas it was found in 15 out of 28 patients with chronic aggressive hepatitis and two out of 11 with chronic persistent hepatitis. Its presence therefore indi...