Biomaterial Database

Should all pregnant women be screened for hepatitis B surface antigen? 1989

A F Pesce, and E B Crewe, and A L Cunningham

Westmead Hospital, NSW.

One thousand, one hundred and ninety-three pregnant women were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriage after their histories had been reviewed to assess their risk status. In this prospective study, carrier rates were examined according to conventional risk criteria and also according to extended criteria that included the country of birth of the patient's parents. Twenty-six (2.2%) patients were found to be HBsAg seropositive, and one of these patients showed no identifiable risk factors. In four hepatitis B virus carriers, the only risk factor was that the patients' parents had been born in a country that was classified as high risk. Thus, five (19%) of 26 patients would not have been identified by means of previously-accepted screening procedures. Four hundred and forty-two (37%) patients showed at least one conventional risk factor and 558 (47%) patients showed at least one risk factor by our extended criteria. Given the high costs to the community of chronic hepatitis B virus carriage, it was concluded that the screening of all antenatal clinic patients for the presence of HBsAg is cost effective.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008403	Mass Screening	Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.	Screening,Mass Screenings,Screening, Mass,Screenings,Screenings, Mass
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011251	Pregnancy Complications, Infectious	The co-occurrence of pregnancy and an INFECTION. The infection may precede or follow FERTILIZATION.	Complications, Infectious Pregnancy,Infectious Pregnancy Complications,Maternal Sepsis,Pregnancy, Infectious Complications,Sepsis during Pregnancy,Sepsis in Pregnancy,Infectious Pregnancy Complication,Pregnancy Complication, Infectious,Sepsis in Pregnancies,Sepsis, Maternal
D002353	Carrier State	The condition of harboring an infective organism without manifesting symptoms of infection. The organism must be readily transmissible to another susceptible host.	Asymptomatic Carrier State,Asymptomatic Infection Carrier,Inapparent Infection Carrier,Presymptomatic Carrier State,Presymptomatic Infection Carrier,Super-spreader Carrier,Superspreader Carrier,Asymptomatic Carrier States,Asymptomatic Infection Carriers,Carrier State, Asymptomatic,Carrier State, Presymptomatic,Carrier States,Carrier, Super-spreader,Carrier, Superspreader,Carriers, Super-spreader,Carriers, Superspreader,Inapparent Infection Carriers,Infection Carrier, Asymptomatic,Infection Carrier, Inapparent,Infection Carrier, Presymptomatic,Presymptomatic Carrier States,Presymptomatic Infection Carriers,Super spreader Carrier,Super-spreader Carriers,Superspreader Carriers
D003362	Cost-Benefit Analysis	A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. In contrast a cost effectiveness in general compares cost with qualitative outcomes.	Cost and Benefit,Cost-Benefit Data,Benefits and Costs,Cost Benefit,Cost Benefit Analysis,Cost-Utility Analysis,Costs and Benefits,Economic Evaluation,Marginal Analysis,Analyses, Cost Benefit,Analysis, Cost Benefit,Analysis, Cost-Benefit,Analysis, Cost-Utility,Analysis, Marginal,Benefit and Cost,Cost Benefit Analyses,Cost Benefit Data,Cost Utility Analysis,Cost-Benefit Analyses,Cost-Utility Analyses,Data, Cost-Benefit,Economic Evaluations,Evaluation, Economic,Marginal Analyses
D005006	Ethnicity	A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.	Ethnic Groups,Nationality,Ethnic Group,Nationalities
D005260	Female		Females
D006509	Hepatitis B	INFLAMMATION of the LIVER in humans caused by a member of the ORTHOHEPADNAVIRUS genus, HEPATITIS B VIRUS. It is primarily transmitted by parenteral exposure, such as transfusion of contaminated blood or blood products, but can also be transmitted via sexual or intimate personal contact.	Hepatitis B Virus Infection
D006514	Hepatitis B Surface Antigens	Those hepatitis B antigens found on the surface of the Dane particle and on the 20 nm spherical and tubular particles. Several subspecificities of the surface antigen are known. These were formerly called the Australia antigen.	Australia Antigen,HBsAg,Hepatitis B Surface Antigen,Antigen, Australia
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man