Introduction: Hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It is an enveloped DNA virus that infects the liver and causes hepatocellular necrosis and inflammation. HBV to be known as silent killer. Study aimed To determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women and its risk factors.
Material and methods:It was a hospital based observational study conducted among pregnant women between January 2016 and September, 2017. Of the 12,240 women screened, 93 were found to be positive, for HBs Ag. Finally, the calculated sample size was 93.
Results:In the present, study HBsAg prevalence rate was 0.76% among antenatal women. Among the 93 women delivered, 1 had an IUD, 1 had a still birth, 13% had preterm labour and 81.6% had term delivery with live foetus. Neonatal complications were RDS, LBW, neonatal jaundice, prematurity and 32% of neonates required NICU admissions. LBW was seen in 15.6% and prematurity was seen in 13.4%. LBW was mainly due to preterm delivery. There was no significant association between HBV infection and neonatal complications. 3 neonatal deaths due to meconium aspiration syndrome and respiratory distress syndrome and finally 85 infants were left for follow up. In the study the transmission rate was calculated as 1.2% which is acceptable.
Conclusion:Universal antenatal screening of all pregnant women is recommended. All tertiary centres should develop adequate laboratory facilities to detect HBeAg, antibody levels against core antigens, which requires strong government policies and political commitment.