Abstract
Prenatal screening for hepatitis B is now recommended as a universal practice in Canada. This study questions whether that policy should apply outside large urban centres. We studied women delivering babies at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, Ont. Of 1216 women, results of HBsAg screening were available for 716; only two women, both from a high-risk group, were HBsAg positive. If selective screening is used, physicians must question patients carefully to ensure that women at risk are identified and tested.
MeSH terms
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Carrier State / blood
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Carrier State / epidemiology*
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Carrier State / prevention & control
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Evaluation Studies as Topic
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Female
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Health Status Indicators
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Hepatitis B / blood
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Hepatitis B / epidemiology*
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Hepatitis B / prevention & control
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Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / blood*
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Hospitals, Urban
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Humans
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Mass Screening / economics
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Mass Screening / standards*
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Ontario / epidemiology
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / blood
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Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / epidemiology*
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Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / prevention & control
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Prenatal Care / economics
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Prenatal Care / standards*
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Prevalence
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Retrospective Studies
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Risk Factors
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Seroepidemiologic Studies
Substances
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Hepatitis B Surface Antigens