Hepatitisinfektion in der Schwangerschaft und bei der Geburt

The most common cause of jaundice in pregnancy is viral hepatitis, potentially accompanied by temporary dysfunction of the liver. Whereas acute viral hepatitis in pregnancy frequently describes an asymptomatic course, thereby only rarely affecting the fetus, some of the known hepatitis viruses might cause severe morbidity in the neonatal period particularly when the infection is noted near term or sub partu. However, efforts have been made in order to reduce the number of acute neonatal infections (hepatitis B immune globulin and vaccine). Conversely, no immunoprophylaxis for hepatitis C is available yet, although the vertical transmission rate is low. Perinatal transmission of hepatitis E is unusual, but maternal disease is often severe. The clinical relevance of the commonly found hepatitis G virus remains unknown. Liver inflammation caused by other viruses, toxic agents or autoimmune hepatitis are rare conditions in pregnancy.