Hepatitis B in jaundiced neonates admitted to a special care nursery.

Sixteen of the 448 neonates admitted with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia had hepatitis. Four of these babies were HbsAg positive at the time ofadmission. About418 of the mothers of jaundiced neonates admitted to the nursery were screened for HbsAg; 47/418 of them were HbsAg positive. The percentages of affected mothers were the same among the Malays, Chinese and Indians. This study suggests that the staff in our nursery and the neonates admitted were at risk of contracting hepatitis B from the high percentage of HbsAg positive mothers of jaundiced neonates.