Objective: To describe the characteristics, prevalence, and HBeAg correlation of pregnant women with hepatitis B virus (HBV) at Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective medical chart review was conducted in pregnant women with HBV who came for antenatal care (ANC) at Siriraj Hospital between July 2015 and December 2018. All of them were asked to complete selfadministered questionnaires at the first visit to the Siriraj Female Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Clinic. Blood testing for HBsAg was used to diagnose the infection. After that, HBeAg was routinely checked. HBV viral load (VL) was sent at the patients’ own expense.

Results: Of the 28,214 pregnant women who came for ANC during the present study period, 395 were positive for HBsAg (1.4%). The mean age was 31.1±5.7 years. Of them, 110 knew the positive HBV serostatus before this pregnancy (27.9%) and 285 were newly diagnosed cases. The gestational age (GA) at diagnosis were less than 14 weeks in 157 (55.1%), 14 to 19 weeks in 72 (25.3%), 20 to 27 weeks in 26 (9.1%), and 28 weeks or more in 30 (10.5%). HBeAg was tested positive in 140 pregnant women (35.4%). Of the 57 women who were tested for HBV VL (15 known cases, 42 new cases), there was a significant association between HBeAg and VL of 200,000 IU per mL or more in that 85% of the positive HBeAg women had a HBV VL of 200,000 IU per mL or more. Of all participants, 303 male partners (76.7%) had never been tested for HBV infection.

Conclusion: Despite the success of the program to prevent the in-utero HBV infection, the standard of care, especially the routine evaluation of HBV VL is still not met. The present finding may raise awareness of the missing jigsaw in the health care of pregnant women with HBV at the national level.

Keywords: Pregnancy, Hepatitis B, Characteristics

Received 3 Feb 2020 | Revised 11 Feb 2020 | Accepted 12 Feb 2020