Royal Hospital, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman.
Central Public Health Laboratory, Directorate General for Disease Surveillance and Contro, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman.
J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2022 Sep;12(3):311-315. doi: 10.1007/s44197-022-00043-7. Epub 2022 May 28.
The primary objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B infection among pregnant women in Oman. The secondary objectives were to test for other hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers and to determine hepatitis B viral load.
In this cross-sectional study conducted from June 2019 to December 2020, we randomly selected 2210 Omani women who attended antenatal clinics across the country. Pregnant women were tested for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) using a commercial enzyme immunoassay; those who tested positive were further analyzed for other HBV serological markers: HBV core total antibody (anti-HBc), HBV core antibody IgM (immunoglobulin M) (anti-HBc IgM), hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) and hepatitis B virus e antibody (anti-HBe). They were also tested for hepatitis B viral load.
This study included 2210 women with a mean age of 39 years. Ninety-five percent of the women who were invited to participate consented and were included in the study. Thirty-three (1.49%) tested positive for HBsAg. All participants tested negative for HBeAg and anti-HBc IgM and positive for anti-HBc and anti-HBe, and 30 (90.9%) women had their hepatitis B viral load measured. Three (10.0%) had undetectable viral loads, 23 (76.7%) had low viral loads of < 2000 (IU/ml), 2 had moderate viral loads between 2000 and 200,000 (IU/ml) and one had a high viral load of 486,000 (IU/ml).
Our study shows that the HBV prevalence in pregnant women is 1.49%, which is lower than what was reported earlier. Nevertheless, antenatal screening is still warranted, as there are vital interventions for the newborn and the mother.
本研究的主要目的是估计阿曼孕妇乙型肝炎感染的流行率。次要目的是检测其他乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）血清学标志物并确定乙型肝炎病毒载量。
在这项 2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 12 月进行的横断面研究中，我们随机选择了 2210 名在全国各地产前诊所就诊的阿曼妇女。使用商业酶免疫分析法检测孕妇乙型肝炎表面抗原（HBsAg）；对检测呈阳性的孕妇进一步分析其他乙型肝炎血清学标志物：乙型肝炎核心总抗体（抗-HBc）、乙型肝炎核心抗体 IgM（免疫球蛋白 M）（抗-HBc IgM）、乙型肝炎病毒 e 抗原（HBeAg）和乙型肝炎病毒 e 抗体（抗-HBe）。还对乙型肝炎病毒载量进行了检测。
本研究共纳入 2210 名平均年龄为 39 岁的女性。95%受邀参加的妇女同意并被纳入研究。33 名（1.49%）妇女 HBsAg 检测呈阳性。所有参与者 HBeAg 和抗-HBc IgM 检测均呈阴性，抗-HBc 和抗-HBe 检测均呈阳性，30 名（90.9%）妇女检测了乙型肝炎病毒载量。3 名（10.0%）病毒载量不可检测，23 名（76.7%）病毒载量低，<2000（IU/ml），2 名病毒载量中等，在 2000 至 200000（IU/ml）之间，1 名病毒载量高，为 486000（IU/ml）。
我们的研究表明，孕妇乙型肝炎流行率为 1.49%，低于之前的报告。然而，仍需进行产前筛查，因为对新生儿和母亲都有重要的干预措施。
