Attendance at International Liver Congress 2022
EASL’s International Liver Congress 2022 was taken place in London as hybrid platform from June 22-26, 2022. With 7,000 delegates from 114 countries came together either in London or join online to discuss the latest science in hepatology. This research abstract was accepted for poster presentation and exhibited on June 23, 2022.
This study has been developed based on the results of previously conducted nationwide study on HBsAg prevalence among 5-7 years old children and their mothers in Cambodia in 2017 under collaboration of Hiroshima University (PI: Prof. Junko TANAKA) with National Immunization Program at Ministry of Health in Cambodia, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, WHO Cambodia and University of Health Sciences by which the prevalence among children was 0.56% and that among their mother was 4.39% suggesting the concern for mother-to-child transmission of HBV. Therefore, the research group had decided to conduct the study on HBsAg prevalence among pregnant women and then to examine their genotype distribution after calling for joint collaboration with National Maternal and Child Health Center in Cambodia.
This study was part of prospective longitudinal study, conducted in 3 hospitals in Siem Reap from February 2020 to December 2021. Total 1565 pregnant women were recruited. The mean age of pregnant women was 28.3±5.6 years old. The prevalence of HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb was 4.28%, 38.53% and 23.13%, respectively. Among HBsAg positives, HBeAg and HBeAb positive rates were 41.79% and 55.22%, respectively. Among 37 full-genomes, HBV genotype C1 was predominant (71.79%), followed by B4 (15.38%) and B2 (12.82%). The results from our study illustrated the level of HBV infection endemicity, genotype distribution among pregnant women in Siem Reap. These findings are precious information which would contribute to the establishment of HBV screening program and the management of HBsAg positive for pregnant women in Cambodia.
In this study, I participated training the surveyors, field work monitoring, laboratory, and data analysis. I was given chance to attend this international conference which offered me a priceless opportunity to share this research results, as well as to explore the latest information related to liver diseases. Besides, I have learnt on the advanced technology and studies which driven me to continue further research in hepatology. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Junko Tanaka for her tirelessly guidance and support.