Intra-familial transmission of hepatitis B affecting all household members - A case report

• Main Authors: MIP Premathilake, RGLS Rajamanthree, YLB Karunarathne, MARV Muthugala
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology 2019-04-01
• Series: Sri Lankan Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: hepatitis, sri lanka, familial, transmission, infection
• Online Access: https://sljid.sljol.info/articles/8235

Intra-familial transmission of hepatitis B is well documented and is the rationale for screening of household members. However, reports on transmission of infection to all household members are sparse. We report a case of intra-familial transmission of hepatitis B affecting all household members. The index case was a lady diagnosed with chronic liver cell disease, who was later found to have chronic hepatitis B viral infection. All household contacts were screened, which included five persons. All showed evidence of exposure and two were chronically infected, of which one was a pregnant lady. The risk of familial transmission of hepatitis B could be higher than expected. This case highlights the importance of active efforts to screen all family members at diagnosis of each new case of hepatitis B.