Hepatitis B and hepatitis C represent major public health problems worldwide. Since perinatal infection has been implicated as an important factor in transmission of hepatitis B in endemic areas and since transmission of hepatitis C has been thought to have a similar mode as
l]epatitis B, the aim of the present study is to investigate the potential role of perinatal infection in the transmission of hepatitis Band C in an urban area in Jakarta, Indonesia. For this study, six hundred and tifty five women, consisting of 279 parturients who delivered 281 neonates in the hospital, 138 mothers having 145 children below 5 years of age, and 238 pregnant women
were investigated for HBV and HCV serologic markers including HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA determination. The prevalence of I-lEsAg carriers, and of chronic hepatitis C (HCV-RNA positivity) among the child bearing age women was 5%, and 0.46% respectively. From the 84
children below five years of age born from 78 mothers who were positive for anti-Ime and other HBV serological markers, 35 children (41.6%) were positive for serological markers of HBV replication or of past infection, although some of these children, the anti-HBc positivity may be due to passive maternal transfer. Therefore the risk for I-lEV transmission (perinatal
and horizontal) in these children was .J most 41.6% (maximal probability). However, from 61 children born from 60 mothers who had no any HBV serological markers, 18 children (29.5%) were also positive for HBV serological markers. So the risk of horizontal transmission ofHBV infection in these children was at most 29.5%. Intra-uterine transmission was observed only in one neonate born from a mother who was positive for serum llBV-DNA. The prevalence of
HBsAg carriers among all children below 5 years of age was 1.4%. The serum HCV-RNA was detected only in one woman and in none of their children. Since the prevalence of HBsAg carriers among blood donors in various cities in Indonesia in previous reports ranged from 2.49.1% and the prevalence of anti-HCV ranged Irom 0.5-3.4%, from our present findings, we can
therefore conclude that perinatal infection is not the major mode of HBV and HCV transmission in urban area in Jakarta, Indonesia. |