Surveillance for hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women in Greece shows high rates of chronic infection among immigrants and low vaccination-induced protection rates: preliminary results of a single center study

I S Elefsiniotis; I Glynou; I Zorou; I Magaziotou; H Brokalaki; E Apostolopoulou; E Vezali; H Kada; G Saroglou

Surveillance for hepatitis B virus infection in pregnant women in Greece shows high rates of chronic infection among immigrants and low vaccination-induced protection rates: preliminary results of a single center study

Euro Surveill. 2009 Mar 5;14(9):5-7.

Authors

I S Elefsiniotis¹, I Glynou, I Zorou, I Magaziotou, H Brokalaki, E Apostolopoulou, E Vezali, H Kada, G Saroglou

Affiliation

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Athens, Elena Venizelou Hospital, Greece. [email protected]

PMID: 19317974

Abstract

Epidemiological data on the prevalence of serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women in Greece are limited. We evaluated the prevalence of HBV serological markers in a multinational population of pregnant women in Athens, Greece. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) was 4.1% with the highest rates among Albanian immigrants (12%). Relatively low vaccination-induced protection rates (32.5%) were observed, a finding suggesting that surveillance and immunisation programmes targeted at pregnant women are necessary.

MeSH terms

Adult
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / epidemiology*
Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
Disease Outbreaks / statistics & numerical data*
Female
Greece / epidemiology
Hepatitis B Vaccines / therapeutic use
Hepatitis B, Chronic / epidemiology*
Hepatitis B, Chronic / prevention & control
Humans
Incidence
Pilot Projects
Population Surveillance*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / epidemiology*
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / prevention & control
Risk Assessment / methods*
Risk Factors
Vaccination / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

Hepatitis B Vaccines