Hepatitis B seropositivity of pregnant women and the review of Turkish literature

Objective: The aim of the study was to show the progress of hepatitis B seropositivity rates of pregnant women in Turkey for the last two decades by regions and years and to evaluate the current condition in consideration of the studies published. Methods: The studies investigating hepatitis B seropositivity of pregnant women in Turkey were analyzed by reviewing the databases and the literature. On this topic, 64 studies performed between 1975 and 2016 were found. The studies published within the last 2 decades (1996–2016) were arranged by their publication years. Additionally, the data of the women delivered in our clinic between 2012 and 2015 were reviewed retrospectively and the result of HBsAg seropositivity rate was determined. Results: It was seen that the rate of HBsAg seropositivity in the studies published in Turkey was between 1.2 and 19.2%. Considering the studies performed within the last two decades, the highest rate was 9.3%, and no HBsAg seropositivity higher than 6% was found in the studies performed in the last 7 years with the contribution of vaccine program carried out throughout the country. In the study we performed in our clinic, we found the rate 2.16% in 4037 pregnant women. Conclusion: In Turkey, it is fought against the perinatal contagion of hepatitis B virus by antenatal HBsAg screening, routine hepatitis B virus vaccine of newborns and passive and active immunization practices applied on newborns of the mothers who are positive for HBsAg. In addition, high risk groups are vaccinated against hepatitis B and with all these methods, it is expected to decrease the rate of hepatitis B in future years in Turkey.