Abstract
The opportunity to investigate nurse-infant hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmissibility arose when a nurse in the special care nursery (SCN) developed acute Type B hepatitis. This nurse had close contact with all 31 neonates in the SCN during the month prior to the onset of her clinical hepatitis. Six months later sera were obtained from 24 of the 31 Infants and from 22 of their mothers. Sera were analyzed for HBeAg, anti-HBc and anti-HBs. The nurse's serum and saliva were strongly positive for HBsAg; her serum antl-HBc = 1:32. Neither HBeAg nor anti-HBe was detectable in her serum. No infant or mother demonstrated evidence of HBV infection. These data show that a nurse caring for infants in a SCN did not transmit HBV to any of the neonates with whom she had direct contact despite the fact that she had acute icteric hepatitis, HBeAg in her serum and saliva, and ongoing viral replication. The fact that the nurse was HBeAg negative may have influenced the results.
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Gerber, M., Lewin, E., Gerety, R. et al. TRANSMISSIBILITY OF TYPE B HEPATITIS IN A SPECIAL CARE NURSERY;. Pediatr Res 11, 435 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00393
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-00393