[Prenatal screening and the prevalence of hepatitis B infection in pregnant women in the Marche Region (Central Italy): differences between ethnic groups]

Abstract

Objectives: to evaluate the epidemiology of hepatitis B infection in pregnant women living in the Marche Region (Central Italy), according to the Country of origin.

Design: cross sectional observational study conducted from May 2011 to April 2012, which involved 13 of the 15 birthing centres in the Marche region.

Setting and participants: serological data of hepatitis B infection were obtained during the execution of mandatory prenatal screening. The total number of pregnant women was of 10,232 of which 7,669 were Italian (74.9%) and 2,563 were foreign (25.1%).

Main outcome measures: rate of adherence to prenatal serologic screening and prevalence of hepatitis B infection in Italian and foreign pregnant women. The 95% confidence intervals were calculated using the exact method for proportions. The test for proportions was applied to make comparisons between groups (significance level: 0.05).

Results: the rate of adherence to prenatal serologic screening and the overall prevalence of hepatitis B infection in pregnancy ware 98.6% and 0.8%, respectively. In foreign women, compared to native ones, differences of adherence to screening and the prevalence of infection were significant (96.7% vs. 99.3% and 2.7% vs. 0.2%). The highest prevalence was observed in pregnant women who came from the Western Pacific Region, Eastern Europe, and Africa (7.0%, 4.0%, and 3.3%, respectively). More than half of the cases of pregnant women, positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, were originating in Albania and China (60.6%). The prevalence of hepatitis B infection was significantly higher in pregnant women from China (8.1%), Albania (7.7%), Ukraine (7.2%), and Senegal (6.1%).

Conclusions: the study emphasises the need to organise targeted interventions to facilitate access to prenatal screening programmes to foreign women for better control of hepatitis B infection in the Marche Region.