Safety of Breast-Feeding Carried out by Chronic HBV Carriers

Objective To explore the safety of breast-feeding carried out by chronic HBV carriers.Methods HBV infectious markers were detected in umbilical cord blood and colostrum of 145 chronic HBV carrier mothers.Meanwhile,HBV DNA in 52 newborns with HBsAg(+) mothers,either breast-fed or formula-fed,was detected at 0,7,and 12 months after born.Results HBV infectious markers were found to be positive in the umbilical cord blood in 136 out of the 145 HBV infectious marker-positive cases.The intrauterine HBV-infectious rate was 94%.HBV infectious markers were found to be positive in the colostrum in 32 out of the 145 cases with HBV infectious markers(HBV-infectious rate:22%),12 with HBsAg(+) mothers(positive rate:23%) and 20 with HBeAg(+) mothers(positive rate:83%).No statistical differences between the breast-fed group and the formula-fed group of newborns with HBsAg+ mothers were noted with respect to HBV-DNA positive rate of newborns at 0,7,and 12 months after born.Conclusion Breast feeding could be carried out by HBsAg(+) chronic HBV carriers and combined immunization should be performed in the infants at the same time.The colostrum of HBeAg(+) mothers is highly infectious and is not suitable for breast-feeding.