pediatrics
Neonatal Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection
Symptoms and Signs of Neonatal HBV Infection
Most neonates with HBV infection are asymptomatic but develop chronic, subclinical infection characterized by persistent HBsAg antigenemia and variably elevated transaminase activity. Many neonates born to women with acute hepatitis B during pregnancy are of low birth weight, regardless of whether they are infected. Infrequently, infected neonates develop acute, symptomatic hepatitis B, which is usually mild and self-limited. They develop jaundice, lethargy, failure to thrive, abdominal distention, and clay-colored stools. Occasionally, severe infection with hepatomegaly, ascites, and Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia (primarily conjugated bilirubin) occurs. Rarely, the disease is fulminant and even fatal. Fulminant disease occurs more often in neonates whose mothers are chronic carriers of hepatitis B. 