Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Egyptian Pregnant Women - A Single Center Study

Mortada EL-Shabrawi, Mohamed Farouk Mohamed, Mona Salah El Din Hamdi, Mohamed Ehab, Shaimaa Shaaban Khamiss, Hanaa El-Karaksy

International Journal of TROPICAL DISEASE & Health · pp. 157–168 · Published 2 Apr 2013

10.9734/IJTDH/2013/3276

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection still has a relatively high incidence and prevalence worldwide. In the post-vaccination era in developing countries, perinatal vertical transmission remains the most common mode of transmission. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission requires screening for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) in pregnant women to identify which newborns that must be immunized. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant mothers who were attending outpatient clinic of the Obstetric Department, and Social and Preventive Medicine Center at Cairo University Hospital Campus, for routine antenatal care. Methods: A cross sectional study included 2,000 pregnant women. A rapid screening test for HBV “One Step HBsAg Rapid Test” was done for all women and all HBsAg-positive cases were confirmed by ELISA for HBsAg. A structured questionnaire for risk factors for HBV acquisition was filled for every pregnant mother positive for HBsAg and a control group of HBsAg negative mothers. Results: Out of 2,000 pregnant women, 35 (1.75%) were positive by the rapid test, out of whom 32/35 cases (91.43) were confirmed to be positive by the confirmatory test representing 1.6% of the study population. Family history of HBV, previous intravenous (IV) injections, medical clinic attendance, hospital admission, and surgeries were the risk factors for acquiring HBV infection (P-value=0.001, 0.003, 0.002, 0.000, and 0.011, respectively). Conclusion: HBV infection is prevalent among pregnant mothers attending our outpatient services. Therefore we recommend screening for HBV in all Egyptian pregnant mothers to prevent neonatal infection by immunoprophylaxis.

Prevalence epidemiology Egypt hepatitis B perinatal infection pregnancy

Cited by 13

Incidence of hepatitis B virus infection and associated risk factors among pregnant women in SSMC, Mitford Hospital

Ireen Akhter, Zinia Jafrin Munni, Tanvir Adnan · International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2026

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among antenatal attendees in a university teaching hospital in Southern Nigeria

Michael Thompson Ukpe, Aniekan Monday Abasiattai, Ntiense Macaulay Utuk · Adesh University Journal of Medical Sciences & Research · 2023

Epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Temesgen Gebeyehu Wondmeneh, Ayal Tsegaye Mekonnen · BMC Infectious Diseases · 2024

Hepatitis B virus infection and HBeAg positivity among pregnant women in South West Uganda

Naome Mugabiirwe, Rogers Kalyetsi, Richard Ayella · African Journal of Laboratory Medicine · 2022

Pattern and interpretation of hepatitis B virus markers among pregnant women in North East Egypt

Rania Kishk, Mohamed Mandour, Mohamed Elprince · Brazilian Journal of Microbiology · 2019

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

13

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.