HEPATITIS–B VIRUS INFECTION;

TO DESCRIBE THE CLINICAL PRESENTATION IN CHILDREN

Abstract

Objective: To describe the clinical presentations of hepatitis B virus infection
in children. Methodology: Children presenting with symptoms of liver diseases and other
diseases who were found to be HBsAg positive by screening or ELISA method were enrolled.
Children suffering from thalassemia, hemophilia and hemolytic anemia, which need multiple
transfusions, were excluded. On the basis of history, examination and investigations the clinical
presentation of the patient was categorized. Basic demographic data, relevant clinical history,
physical examination, lab investigations and clinical presentations category were entered in the
predesigned proforma. As this is the descriptive study, no hypothesis were required. Design:
Descriptive case series. Setting: Paediatric unit-2 NishtarHospital Multan. Period: 16th May
2012 to 15th November 2012. Results: Study results consist of relative frequencies of different
clinical presentations of HBsAg positive patients. Fifty children who were HBsAg positive were
enrolled in a six month period. Out of 50 patients, 21 (42%) were of hepatic encephalopathy,
14 (28%) were with acute hepatitis, 12 (24%) were cirrhosis, 2 (4%) were asymptomatic carrier
and 1 (2%) was presented with chronic hepatitis B. There were 40 (80%) males and 10 (20%)
females. The overall male to female ratio was 4:1. Conclusions: Most common presentation
was hepatic encephalopathy which has a very bad prognosis, next comes the acute hepatitis
and then cirrhosis. There is another inference that males are more and severely affected by
hepatitis-B virus infection.