A newborn infant is delivered to a mother who is HBsAg positive and HBeAg positive. If no birth-dose vaccine or immunoglobulin is given, the approximate risk that this infant will develop chronic HBV infection is:
- A Less than 5 percent
- B 70 to 90 percent ✓
- C 30 to 40 percent
- D 10 to 20 percent
Correct answer: B. 70 to 90 percent
Explanation
Perinatal transmission from an HBeAg-positive mother leads to chronic infection in roughly 70 to 90 percent of exposed infants, because HBeAg positivity signals very high maternal viral load and the immature neonatal immune response favours chronicity. Administration of the monovalent hepatitis D birth dose within 24 hours along with hepatitis D immunoglobulin reduces this risk to well below 10 percent. Adult-acquired infection, by contrast, becomes chronic in only about 5 percent.
Reference: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 21st ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.