A pair of Chinese studies have shown evidence that children of parents living with hepatitis B — also called HBV — are more likely to be born with a heart defect. The studies into newborn congenital heart disease (CHD) and parental HBV status were led by Hanbin Wu and Ying Yang, both of the National Research Institute for Family Planning (NRIFP) in Beijing.
In each study — one on mothers and one on fathers living with HBV — the researchers looked at people living with HBV, but differentiated between those who had been previously infected or had been living with the virus for a while, and those who were newly infected, when the woman became pregnant.
With an estimated 254 million people living with hepatitis B worldwide, … understanding the link between HBV and congenital conditions in newborns is important to … reducing its impact on the health of children.
Congenital heart disease accounts for about a third of birth defects, making it the most common congenital disease in newborns with long term impacts on the health of the child. Studies have shown links between viral infections and the development of CHD in the foetus, and while data analyses have shown association between maternal HBV infection in early pregnancy and CHD, until now, there had been no research into links between pre-existing HBV infection and heart defects in newborns.
With an estimated 254 million people living with hepatitis B worldwide, and 1.2 million new infections each year, understanding the link between HBV and congenital conditions in newborns is important to driving actions to eliminate hepatitis B and reducing its impact on the health of children.
The NRIFP studies examined millions of people, made possible by data from a national free health service for childbearing-aged women who plan to conceive in the next year, and the state’s ability to cross-check this information with the medical histories of both members of each couple involved in the pregnancy. The National Free Preconception Checkup data from 2013 to 2019 were collected throughout mainland China.
For mothers, the first study found that approximately 0.03% of women who had no history of HBV infection, or who were newly infected with the virus, carried an infant with congenital heart disease. This compared with 0.04% of women with a longer-term HBV infection prior to pregnancy carrying an infant with congenital heart disease.
There was no noticeable difference in heart disease rates in the children of women with no HBV history compared with those of women who were newly infected.
For fathers, the second study similarly found that previous paternal HBV infection was independently associated with congenital heart disease in offspring. As in the maternal study, however, although the rates were elevated, they were not actually very high. To put these results into perspective, 0.04% of cases equates to 1 in 2,500 infants, as opposed to 1 in 3,300 where hepatitis B is not a factor. Out of China’s 9.54 million births in 2024, that translates to an additional 3,816 infants born with congenital heart disease due to parental HBV infection.
In each case the study only looked at couples where one partner had HBV — the effect of both father and mother living with the virus on rates of congenital heart disease in their children remains to be seen.
The studies make no suggestions about why HBV infection in a parent might contribute to congenital heart problems in the children. This is also obviously a topic for future research. What the analysis does suggest is that HBV screening and advice for people planning on becoming parents could be very helpful, and that HBV vaccination for everyone is only to be encouraged.
Last updated 28 April 2025
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