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Most pregnant women who suffer from the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) do not show symptoms. If the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) test is positive, what should pregnant women do? Let’s get to know the symptoms, dangers and ways to treat hepatitis.
Hepatitis B can cause severe disease, liver damage, and even death. Hepatitis is a liver disease that is highly contagious and spreads through blood, semen and other body fluids. And the hepatitis B vaccine can prevent someone from getting the disease.
HBsAg positive in pregnant women
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) writes that hepatitis B and hepatitis C are easily transmitted diseases. Both can cause serious long-term illness.
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According to the Babycenter page, a person has the potential to contract hepatitis B from several risk factors below:
Sharing needles with a person infected with the gene (if the mother is a carrier) Piercing or tattooing in a place with poor sanitation practices Sexual contact with an infected person (without protection) Working in a job that exposes infected blood Traveling to a highly exposed area infected with HBV or with poor blood testing practices Getting a blood transfusion that has not been filtered
More than 1.5 million people are infected with HBV every year worldwide, but only 10.5 percent are diagnosed because many do not know they are HBV carriers.
However, not everyone suffers from a chronic case of HBV (lasting more than six months). For many people, HBV is a short-term disease, and the likelihood of developing severe HBV is associated with age.
About nine percent of babies who have hepatitis B go on to have chronic infection, while only two to six percent of people who contract hepatitis B as adults become chronically infected.
Common symptoms of hepatitis B in pregnant women
In pregnant women, most Hepatitis B sufferers do not show symptoms. However, you need to know about some common symptoms:
Fatigue Stomach ache Nausea and vomiting Loss of appetite Joint pain Dark urine Clay-colored stools Jaundice (yellow skin or eyes)
The symptoms above usually appear around 3 months after exposure to the virus.
What if you want to do this HBV test? During your first prenatal visit, you will of course undergo a series of white blood tests including a test to check for the Hepatitis B virus because many people do not show symptoms.
This HBsAG test is considered highly accurate, with a very low false positive rate. Because this test is done early in pregnancy, it can help you and your doctor prepare if the result is positive.
After a positive test result, other tests may be performed to check liver health, such as an HBV DNA virus control test and an ALT/AST test (which measures enzymes in the liver to ensure it is functioning properly).
And if a pregnant woman is HBV positive, then everyone in her household and her sexual partners must be tested.
Illustration of Pregnant Woman and Doctor/ Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto/
The baby is not necessarily infected
If the HBsAg test is positive during pregnancy, it does not mean that the child being born will be sick. The chance of a pregnant woman transmitting the virus to her baby at birth is 10-20 percent, unless the pregnant woman receives treatment within 12 hours after birth.
The risk of your baby becoming infected varies depending on when you were infected and how much HBV is in your blood. There is an 80 to 90 percent risk if a pregnant woman becomes infected with hepatitis B in the third trimester.
If the pregnant woman knows she is a carrier, the doctor can take special precautions at the time of delivery and treat the baby immediately after birth, thereby most likely preventing the baby from becoming infected.
Your doctor may give you more specific blood tests to get more information about your condition and how well your liver is working. This virus affects the liver. Mothers should not take acetaminophen (or other over-the-counter medicines that contain acetaminophen) because this medicine can harm the liver.
Infected babies may not show any symptoms immediately, but are more likely to be chronic carriers than other children or adults.
Chronic carriers can spread the virus throughout their lives and the disease spreads so easily that children cannot even share objects such as toothbrushes.
Dangers of hepatitis B in pregnant women
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that babies infected with hepatitis will have about a 90 percent chance of developing chronic infectious diseases throughout their lives.
If left untreated, about 1 in 4 children who have hepatitis B will die from health problems related to the infection, such as liver damage, liver disease, or liver cancer.
Hepatitis B can be prevented by vaccinating during pregnancy. However, vaccination should only be given if the mother is proven not to be infected with hepatitis B.
Meanwhile, for babies, preventive vaccinations can be done after birth. The Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) explains that ideally this vaccination should be given as early as possible, namely less than 12 hours after the baby is born.
Childbirth process with hepatitis B
Vaginal delivery and cesarean section are both safe for HBV carriers. And according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, a cesarean section is not necessary to reduce the risk of transmitting HBV to the baby.
Within 12 hours after the mother gives birth, the medical team will give the baby a hepatitis B antibody injection and a first shot of the hepatitis B vaccine. This should provide adequate short-term protection against hepatitis B.
All babies receive the first vaccine injection, but antibody injections are only given to babies whose mothers are hepatitis B carriers. Overall, the antibodies and vaccine are about 85 to 95 percent effective in preventing hepatitis B infection in babies whose mothers suffer from HBV.
Blackmores Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Gold Improve Formula/ Foto: lazada
Babies should also get the second and third doses of HBV vaccine at routine baby health checks. All three HBV shots are required for lifelong protection.
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(pri/pri)