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Hepatitis B Antigen in Infants Born to Mothers With Chronic Hepatitis B Antigenemia in Taiwan
Karl E. Anderson, MD;
Cladd E. Stevens, MD;
Julia J. Tsuei, MD;
Wy-Chan Lee, MD;
Shih-Chien Sun, MD;
R. Palmer Beasley, MD
Am J Dis Child. 1975;129(12):1389-1392.
Abstract
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• Hepatitis B antigen (HB Ag) was detected by complement fixation (CF) in serum samples of 7.5% of 1,106 pregnant Chinese women tested in Taipei, Taiwan. HB Ag persisted in all but one of 42 women followed for 1 to 18 months (average, nine months) after delivery, and 27 of the 43 infants (63%) born to those women became antigen-positive. Persistence of the antigen was more common than transient or intermittent antigenemia. Twelve had antigenemia when first tested, while 15 later developed antigenemia, usually during the first six months of life. Only one infant developed antibody to HB Ag (anti-HB Ag), and this occurred after transient antigenemia. The HB Ag was found in two of 32 (6%) fathers, and in 18 of 27 (67%) older siblings. The antigen was more common among siblings of antigen-positive than among those of antigen-negative infants.
These findings demonstrate that in Taiwan, infants born to mothers who are asymptomatic carriers of HB Ag commonly become infected by hepatitis B (HB) virus. Exposure of infants near the time of birth may be important in maintaining the high, chronic HB Ag carrier rate in Taiwan.
(Am J Dis Child 129:1389-1392, 1975)
Author Affiliations
From the departments of clinical investigation (Drs Anderson and Lee), microbiology (Drs Stevens and Beasley), and pathology (Dr Sun), US Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2 and the Maternity and Child Center, Veterans' General Hospital, (Dr Tsuei) Taipei, Taiwan, and the Department of Epidemiology and International Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (Drs Stevens and Beasley). Dr Anderson is now with the Rockefeller University Hospital, New York and Dr Tsuei is now with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Honolulu.
Footnotes
Received for publication Sept 23, 1974; accepted Nov 12.
The opinions and assertions contained herein are those of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the Naval Service at large.
Reprint requests to Publications Office, NAMRU-2, Box 14, APO San Francisco, CA 96263.
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