Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women in the Montreal area.

From January 1982 to June 1984, 30,315 serum specimens from pregnant women at nine hospitals in the Montreal area were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Of the specimens 103, from 98 women, were positive, a prevalence rate of 3.4 per 1000. The ethnic origin of the 98 women and the number who were also positive for e antigen (HBeAg) were as follows: French-Canadian, 29 (3 HBeAg-positive); Asian, 28 (14); Haitian, 32 (0); other, 7 (0); and unknown, 2 (0). The prevalence rates of HBsAg positivity according to ethnic origin at one of the hospitals were 73.9 in Asians, 33.1 in Haitians, 0.9 in French Canadians and 8.0 in women of other extraction. If the prevalence rate found in this study is true for the 95 000 live births that occur yearly in the province of Quebec, there are an estimated 323 infants at risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection each year in the province. Screening programs for detecting HBV carriage in pregnant women should be instituted, since recent studies have shown combined active-passive immunization to be effective in preventing perinatal transmission of HBV infection.