Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University Hospital of Messina, Italy; Division of Clinical and Molecular Hepatology, University Hospital of Messina, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University Hospital of Messina, Italy.
Dig Liver Dis. 2017 Dec;49(12):1368-1372. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2017.07.012. Epub 2017 Aug 1.
Mother-to-child transmission is still considered a major factor in the spread of hepatitis viruses. Nevertheless, epidemiological data on hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in reproductive-age women are limited even in areas like the South of Italy where both viruses had been widespread.
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HBV and HCV serum markers in a large cohort of pregnant women from Southern Italy.
Data concerning 7558 pregnant women consecutively admitted to an Obstetric Division of a Sicilian University Hospital over a six-year period (January 2010-December 2015) were retrospectively collected from clinical notes.
Positivity for both HBV s-antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to HCV (anti- HCV) was very low (0.5% and 0.2%, respectively). HBsAg prevalence was significantly higher in non-Italian than in Italian women (p<0.001). On the contrary, all the anti-HCV positive cases were of Italian origin. Age was not significantly different between positive and negative women.
These results confirm the dramatic decline of HBV and HCV prevalence that recently occurred in Southern Italy, and highlight the importance and cost-effectiveness of systematic HBV and HCV screening in childbearing age women in order to properly apply the available preventive measures and definitively eliminate the risk of vertical transmission for both viruses.
母婴传播仍被认为是肝炎病毒传播的一个主要因素。然而，即使在意大利南部等已广泛存在乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）和丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的地区，有关生殖年龄段妇女的乙型肝炎病毒和丙型肝炎病毒的流行病学数据仍然有限。
本研究旨在调查来自意大利南部的大量孕妇中 HBV 和 HCV 血清标志物的流行情况。
从临床记录中回顾性收集了 2010 年 1 月至 2015 年 12 月期间在西西里岛一家大学医院产科病房连续收治的 7558 名孕妇的数据。
HBV s 抗原（HBsAg）和抗 HCV 抗体的阳性率均非常低（分别为 0.5%和 0.2%）。非意大利籍妇女的 HBsAg 阳性率明显高于意大利籍妇女（p<0.001）。相反，所有抗 HCV 阳性病例均为意大利人。阳性和阴性妇女的年龄无显著差异。
这些结果证实了最近在意大利南部 HBV 和 HCV 流行率的急剧下降，并强调了在生育年龄妇女中系统筛查 HBV 和 HCV 的重要性和成本效益，以便正确应用现有的预防措施，并彻底消除两种病毒的垂直传播风险。
