interspousal transmission of hepatitis b virus: a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study

Background and aim: sexual transmission is one of the routes of hepatitis b transmission. this study aimed at assessing the prevalence of hepatitis b among the spouses of patients with hepatitis b. methods: this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was done on 397 spouses of chronic carriers of hepatitis b, who had referred during years 2003 to 2014 to a private clinic of infectious diseases in birjand, iran. serological tests for hepatitis b surface antigen and anti-core antigen antibody were performed for all participants. data were entered in the spss software (v. 19.0) and analyzed through the chi-square and fisher’s exact tests at a significance level of less than 0.05. results: the prevalence of hepatitis b among participants was 8.3%. resolved hepatitis b was observed in 40.6% of the participants. the prevalence of hepatitis b surface antigen positivity and hepatitis b core antigen antibody positivity among participants whose pouses had shown hepatitis be-antigen positivitywas15.8% and 70.2%, respectively. this rate among participants whose spouses had shown hepatitis b e-antigen negativity was 7% and 36.3%, respectively. hepatitis b e-antigen positivity among participants’ spouses was significantly correlated with transmission of hepatitis b core antigen antibody positivity (odds ratio = 4.18; 95% confidence interval: 2.08 - 8.38; p < 0.001).conclusions: this study suggests the high risk of hepatitis b interspousal transmission, particularly among patients with hepatitis b e-antigen positivity. therefore, public education about hepatitis b and emergency vaccination against it are essential for spouses of infected patients, to prevent interspousal transmission.