Study on Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Pregnant Women and its Risk Factors

Introduction: Hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitisB virus (HBV). It is an enveloped DNA virus that infects theliver and causes hepatocellular necrosis and inflammation.HBV to be known as silent killer. Study aimed To determinethe prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection in pregnantwomen and its risk factors.Material and methods: It was a hospital based observationalstudy conducted among pregnant women between January2016 and September, 2017. Of the 12,240 women screened, 93were found to be positive, for HBs Ag. Finally, the calculatedsample size was 93.Results: In the present, study HBsAg prevalence rate was0.76% among antenatal women. Among the 93 womendelivered, 1 had an IUD, 1 had a still birth, 13% had pretermlabour and 81.6% had term delivery with live foetus.Neonatal complications were RDS, LBW, neonatal jaundice,prematurity and 32% of neonates required NICU admissions.LBW was seen in 15.6% and prematurity was seen in 13.4%.LBW was mainly due to preterm delivery. There was nosignificant association between HBV infection and neonatalcomplications. 3 neonatal deaths due to meconium aspirationsyndrome and respiratory distress syndrome and finally 85infants were left for follow up. In the study the transmissionrate was calculated as 1.2% which is acceptable.Conclusion: Universal antenatal screening of all pregnantwomen is recommended. All tertiary centres should developadequate laboratory facilities to detect HBeAg, antibodylevels against core antigens, which requires stronggovernment policies and political commitment.

La llegada del virus zika a venezuela y su posible huella en la salud materna-infantil. una discusión impostergable / Zika virus arrival to venezuela and its possible imprint on the maternal- child health. an urgent discussion

En los últimos meses se ha creado una alarma internacional en torno a la creciente expansión del virus del Zika en las Américas. La transmisión del Zika en Venezuela está asociada amosquitos del géneroAedes al igual que el Dengue y el Chikungunya provocando que las 3 enfermedades coexistan en los mismos espacios geográficos. La posible asociación de la infección por zika y el incremento de casos del Sindrome de Guillain Barré han encendido las alertas sanitarias al igual que los casos de microcefalia en recién nacidos de madres infectadas. Por tratarse de una reciente infección viral, existen características de la infección que aún desconocemos, pero se están estudiando formas de transmisión adicionales a la vectorial. Este flavivirus puede ser detectado por biología molecular, a través de la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa posterior a transcripción inversa en muestras de suero sanguíneo, y las pruebas confirmatorias en nuestro país se realizan únicamente en el Instituto Nacio nal de Higiene "Rafael Rangel", ubicado en la Ciudad universitaria en Caracas. Lamentablemente, en tiempos de una profunda crisis económica y política en un contexto socio sanitario deficiente; el Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud en Venezuela no ha publicado el boletín epidemiológico desde el año 2014, y como consecuencia enla poblacióndesconocemos oficialmente cuántos casos existen en el país hasta la fecha. La forma más efectiva de prevención actualmentees la educación sanitaria y el control vectorial, con la necesaria contribución de cada ciudadana/o.

In recent months an international alarm has been createdabouttheincreasingexpansion of theZika virus in theAmericas. Zika transmission in Venezuela is associated with Aedes mosquitoes as well as Dengue and Chikungunya causing 3 diseases coexisting in thesamegeographicalareas. Thepossibleassociation of infectionzika and increased cases of Guillain Barré syndrome have turnedon healthalerts as cases of microcephaly in newborns of infected mothers. Being a recent viral infection, there are features of infection stillunknown, butthey are exploringways of further transmission vector. This flavivirus can be detected by molecular biology, through the chain reaction of subsequentpolymerase reverse transcription in blood serum samples, and confirmatory tests in our country are madeonly at the National Institute of Hygiene "Rafael Rangel", located in the University City in Caracas. Unfortunately, in times of a deep economic and political crisis in poor health social context; the Ministry of Popular Power for Health in Venezuela has notreleased the epidemiological bulletinsince 2014, and as a result the population official lyunknownhow many cases exist in the country to date. Themost effective form of prevention is currently the health education and vector control, witht he necessary contribution of each citizen.