LAUSR

We describe the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among women of reproductive age residing in areas of China that are highly endemic for chronic HBV, and provide evidence useful for decision‐makers to guide strategies for preventing mother‐to‐child transmission of HBV, and assess the impact of perinatal transmission PMTCT by projecting HBsAg prevalence trends without interventions. We conducted a cross‐sectional HBV serological survey of women, 15‐49 years of age, residing in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces. Demographic and other subject‐level data were collected in face‐to‐face interviews, after which we obtain blood specimens. Specimens were tested for HBV sero‐markers by ELISA (Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy), and HBV DNA was tested with PCR (Hunan Sansure Biotech). Weighted HBsAg and HBV (either HBsAg+ or anti‐HBc+ indicating either present or past infection) prevalences were 11.82% and 57.16%, respectively. Among the HBsAg‐positive women, 27% were also HBeAg positive. The proportion of individuals with HBV DNA loads >105IU/mL declined with increasing age. Among HBsAg‐negative women, 0.9% had occult HBV infection. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection among reproductive women in these highly endemic provinces is high, posing a threat to maternal health and risk of mother‐to‐child transmission. Prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission remains critically important.