Abstract

BackgroundPrenatal tests are important for prevention of vertical transmission of various infectious agents. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), rubella virus and vaccination coverage against HBV in pregnant adolescents who received care in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazil.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed with 324 pregnant adolescents from 2009 to 2010. After the interview and blood collection, the patients were screened for antibodies and/or antigens against HIV-1/2, HTLV-1/2, CMV, rubella virus and HBV. The epidemiological variables were demonstrated using descriptive statistics with the G, χ2 and Fisher exact tests.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 15.8 years, and the majority (65.4%) had less than 6 years of education. The mean age at first intercourse was 14.4 years, and 60.8% reported having a partner aged between 12 and 14 years. The prevalence of HIV infection was 0.3%, and of HTLV infection was 0.6%. Regarding HBV, 0.6% of the participants had acute infection, 9.9% had a previous infection, 16.7% had vaccine immunity and 72.8% were susceptible to infection. The presence of anti-HBs was greater in adolescent between 12 and 14 years old (28.8%) while the anti-HBc was greater in adolescent between 15 and 18 years old (10.3%). Most of the adolescents presented the IgG antibody to CMV (96.3%) and rubella (92.3%). None of the participants had acute rubella infection, and 2.2% had anti-CMV IgM.ConclusionsThis study is the first report of the seroepidemiology of infectious agents in a population of pregnant adolescents in the Northern region of Brazil. Most of the adolescents had low levels of education, were susceptible to HBV infection and had IgG antibodies to CMV and rubella virus. The prevalence of HBV, HIV and HTLV was similar to that reported in other regions of Brazil. However, the presence of these agents in this younger population reinforces the need for good prenatal follow-up and more comprehensive vaccination campaigns against HBV due to the large number of women susceptible to the virus.

Highlights

  • Prenatal tests are important for prevention of vertical transmission of various infectious agents

  • The present study reported for the first time the serological profiles for human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), CMV and rubella in pregnant adolescents who received care in the city of Belém, Pará, northern region of Brazil

  • The prevalence of HTLV in the study population (0.6%) was within the range previously observed in other populations in the state of Pará [24, 25], we considered the prevalence high compared to other studies performed in pregnant women in the state of Pará [13] and other locations in Brazil, including Manaus [12], Maranhão [26], Paraná [18] and Maceió [23]

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Summary

Introduction

Prenatal tests are important for prevention of vertical transmission of various infectious agents. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), rubella virus and vaccination coverage against HBV in pregnant adolescents who received care in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazil. Some infectious agents, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), human cytomegalovirus (CMV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and rubella virus, are of great importance in the context of pregnancy due to the possibility of transmission from the woman to the baby during the gestational period, at the time of delivery and through breastfeeding [1,2,3,4]. In the northern region of Brazil, the prevalence of HTLV-1/HTLV-2 infection varies from 0% in the state of Amazonas [12] to 0.3% in the state of Pará [13]

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