Patient's question:
I am 16 weeks pregnant and had a Down syndrome screening. The results showed a small positive for hepatitis B. The doctor recommended I have an amniocentesis. I would like to ask if having an amniocentesis can guarantee that the child will not have hepatitis B after birth.Doctor's answer:
Disease Analysis: Prenatal screening for Down syndrome is a method that involves drawing blood from the pregnant woman to detect the concentration of alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin in maternal serum. By combining this with the pregnant woman's due date, age, weight, and gestational age at the time of blood collection, the risk coefficient of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome is calculated. If the prenatal screening indicates a high risk, it means there is a high possibility of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome, and further procedures such as amniocentesis and fetal chromosome testing are required. This is unrelated to the presence of three positive hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg).Advice: The hepatitis B virus can be transmitted from mother to child. Newborns should receive the hepatitis B immune globulin as soon as possible within 24 hours of birth, followed by timely vaccination with the hepatitis B vaccine, which can block more than 90% of mother-to-child transmission of the hepatitis B virus.