[Screening for hepatitis B carriers at the maternity unit of Besançon teaching hospital].

There are more than 280 carriers of the hepatitis B virus worldwide. The risk of chronic carriers, and a fatal outcome due to hepatocarcinoma, is estimated to be about 50% in Asian children contaminated by materno-fetal transmission. Serovaccination of the neonatal infant born to a HBV carrying mother provides protection in nearly 100% of cases. Routine screening for HBV carriers at the Besançon teaching hospital maternity unit led to the vaccination of 1.12% of the babies born in 1990, which corresponds to the current national average.