Possible sources for transmission of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in 80 Children in Babol, North of Iran

Background: to determine the possible sources for the transmission of hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection to children in babol, north of iran. methods: forty-five boys and 35 girls with the mean age of 9.2±5.1 years were evaluated from 1993 to 2004. hepatitis b viral markers in all the family members were assessed. the risk factors for other sources were also determined. results: sixty-five (81.3%) of them were hbeag positive. chronic hbv infection was found in the family members of 53 (66.2%) infected children. chronic hbv infection was seen in 27 (33.8%) cases without any evidence of chronic hbv infection in their family members. chronic hbv infected mothers were the most probable source of infection in 54.3% of the girls and in 24.4% of the boys (p=0.006). there was no evidence of chronic hbv infection in the family members of 48.9% of infected boys and in 14.5% of infected girls (p=0.002). conclusion: the results of this study show that more than one-third of children acquired hbv infection in the society.