Prevalence of North India of hepatitis B carrier state amongst pregnant women.

The study was undertaken to determine the hepatitis B carrier rate in North India along with the relative infectivity of the carriers. A total of 1,112 pregnant women were investigated for hepatitis B carrier state during their routine visits to antenatal clinics. All three tiers of the health care delivery system were included from four regions of North India. The sera were screened for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg), and antibody to hepatitis B "e" antigen (Anti-HBe) by third generation Macro ELISA tests. The average hepatitis B surface antigen carrier rate was 9.5%. The carriers were found to be of relatively low infectivity with HBeAg and Anti-HBe present in 12.0% and 25.3% of the HBsAg carriers respectively, and both these markers absent in 62.7%. It was concluded that in the past decade the hepatitis B endemicity in North India has probably increased, but the relative infectivity of the carriers remains the same.