PEDIATRICS Vol. 71 No. 2 February 1983, pp. 289-292
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Prevention of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection from Mothers to Infants in the United States

JAMES CHIN MD, MPH1

1 Infectious Disease Section, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley

Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from mothers who either have an acute HBV infection or who are chronic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers to their infants has been well documented.1-3 In countries where HBV is hyperendemic, transmission from carrier mothers to their infants has been estimated to be the cause of 20% to 40% of all chronic HBV carriers in the population. Such transmission might account for as many as 50 million chronic HBV carriers throughout the world.

Most HBV infections in infants are asymptomatic. Infected infants who develop antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) are presumably immune for life and are not believed to be at any increased risk of subsequent liver disease.