Background: Previous studies showed that B hepatitis prevalence in Vietnam was very high, and the rate of mother-to-child transmission ranged from 44.7% to 45.2%. And nearly 90% of infected babies will become chronic carriers in later life. Objectives: To determine the rates of the HBeAg, DNA-HBV markers and capacity of mother-to-child transmission among the positive-HBsAg pregnant women in Hanoi. Subjects and method: The cross-sectional study was carried out on 163 positive-HBsAg pregnant women admitted to the Hanoi Obstetrical Hospital from 6/2005 to 3/2007. Blood samples were collected from both mothers and neonates immediately after birth for analysis of HBeAg and DNA-HBV markers. Results:66/163 (40.5%) mothers had HBeAg marker. Among 67 positive-HBsAg pregnancies, 38 women (56.7%) had DNA-HBV marker. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of positive-HBsAg mothers was 55.2%. 96.3% of mothers with HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) transmitted HBV to their babies. The risk of HBsAg(+) increased 68.6 times in babies of mothers with HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) versus babies of mothers with HBsAg(+) alone. Among babies of mothers with DNA(+), 89.5% had HBsAg(+). The risk of HBsAg(+) in babies of mothers with DNA(+) was 73.7 times higher than that in babies of mothers with DNA(-). Conclusion: Babies that were born from HBsAg(+)/HBeAg(+) mothers had high risk of becoming chronic carriers.
HBeAg marker ; DNA-HBV marker ; mother-to-child transmission ; positive HBsAg pregnant women