Antenatal hepatitis B screening program effective in Italian women

(April 14, 2003 - Disease Prevention)

Italy's antenatal hepatitis B screening program is effective in preventing perinatal transmission of the disease, an epidemiologic study found.

T. Stroffolini and colleagues evaluated the program's effectiveness in preventing perinatal HBV transmission "in 11,858 pregnant women consecutively recruited in public and private hospitals in six Italian regions during a two month period in 2001. Of [these women], 10,881 (91.8%) attended HBsAg antenatal screening."

The researchers reported the overall HBsAg prevalence as 1.7% (CI 95%: 1.4-1.9). By group, prevalence was 1.4% (CI 95%: 1.2-1.7) in pregnant women born in Italy, but 5.9% (CI 95%: 4.1-8.1) in those born in Asia, Africa, central and south America, and eastern Europe."

Statistical analysis indicated that birthplace outside of Italy, having more than four members living in the household, and birth in a private hospital were independent predictors of lack of adherence to HBsAg screening, Stroffolini's group said.

"Out of the 182 newborns of HBsAg positive mothers, 172 (95.0%) were given active plus passive immunization; this figure was 100% in newborns of foreign mothers," the researchers reported.

"These findings evidence a good effectiveness in the prevention-of perinatally transmitted HBV in Italy," Stroffolini and colleagues wrote, adding, "More efforts should be addressed to improve the effectiveness of the program among foreign pregnant women who have high rate of HBsAg and more likely escape HBsAg screening than Italian pregnant women."

Stroffolini and coauthors published the results of their study in Vaccine (Factors affecting the compliance of the antenatal hepatitis B screening programme in Italy. Vaccine, 2003;21(11-12):1246-1249).

The corresponding author for this report is T. Stroffolini, Ist Super Sanita, Epidemiology & Biostatistics Laboratory, Viale Regina Elena 299, I-00161 Rome, Italy.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Hepatitis B Virus, Infectious Disease, Obstetrics, Preventive Medicine, Pediatrics, Public Health. This article was prepared by Hepatitis Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

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