Resumo

KIESSLICH, Dagmar et al. Prevalence of serologic and molecular markers of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Amazonas State, Brazil. Epidemiol. Serv. Saúde [online]. 2003, vol.12, n.3, pp.155-164. ISSN 1679-4974.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742003000300006.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a serious health problem in Brazil´s Amazon basin, where early exposure during childhood occurs in areas with highest endemnicity. With an aim to contribute to the regional policies for HBV control in this region, a survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of serologic and molecular HBV markers among 1,460 pregnant women who attended prenatal health-care in nine sub-regions of Amazonas State (Brazil). In these sub-regions, the prevalence of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) ranged from 0% to 8.7%, the prevalence of antibodies to HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) ranged from 5.3 to 75.9% and of antibodies to HBV surface antigen (anti-HBs) from 10.6 to 73.4%. Among 46 HBsAg-positive women, 36 (78.3%) were reactive for HBV-DNA using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). HBV-DNA load was less than 1x10³ copies/ml in 73.9%, but 8.7% had more than 1x10⁵ copies/ml, indicating active infection. The results show some sub-regions of Amazonas State have a high prevalence of HBV markers in pregnant women and, although most of them have low levels of viremia, some women pose potential risk of mother-to-child transmission due to their high viral load

Palavras-chave : HBV-DNA; HBV in pregnant women; HBV serologic markers; HBV viral load.

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