Pregnancy and Travel: The Risks of Hepatitis and Scuba Diving-Reply

Abstract

In Reply. — The information provided by these correspondents is pertinent and deserves emphasis. Dr Lettau notes the added risk that enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis poses for pregnant women, particularly during their third trimester, and the lack of protection offered by preparations of immune serum globulin from nonendemic areas. Hence, food and water precautions require additional emphasis for pregnant women. We understand that all pregnant women require testing for hepatitis B surface antigen during early pregnancy, and we would repeat testing following any potential exposures during pregnancy. Dr Mannino is correct on two counts. The oxygen tension values for umbilical artery and vein as they appear in both our article and quoted reference are reversed. As he indicated, it is a common error in the medical literature, and we perpetuated it. The correct units for hemoglobin concentrations are 8.5 g/dL or 85 g/L, not 0.085 g/L. The letters and