Patient's question:
The child is generally quite healthy, but recently has been crying a lot. The family suspects the child might be calcium deficient, so they took the child to the hospital for a blood test. The results showed some calcium deficiency, but the more serious issue is that the child is a carrier of the hepatitis B virus.Doctor's answer:
Hello, infection in infants and young children with hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriage is primarily caused by horizontal transmission, which can occur through blood transfusion, vaccination, or close contact with family members who are HBV-infected. Infants and young children under the age of 3 are also more susceptible to HBV carriage due to their immature immune systems. An asymptomatic HBV carrier refers to an individual who has a positive blood test result for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) alone, but shows no symptoms or signs of hepatitis, normal liver function test results, and remains unchanged after six months of observation.