A 2 month old baby with acute viral hepatitis like illness slips into encephalopathy after 48 hours. The mother is a known hepatitis B carrier. Mother's hepatitis B virus serological profile is most likely to be:
High-Yield Explanation
HBeAg-positive women in third trimester frequently transmit infection to the fetus (80-90%) in the absence of immunoprophylaxis, whereas those who are negative rarely infect the fetus. After delivery both HBIG and Hepatitis B vaccine is given to the neonate. Ref: Kliegman, Behrman, Jenson, Stanton (2008), Chapter 355, "Viral Hepatitis", In the book, "NELSON TEXTBOOK OF PEDIATRICS", Volume 2, 18th Edition, New Delhi, Page 1683.