Current progress in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B and resulting clinical and programmatic implications

© 2019 Jourdain et al. There is currently no cure for hepatitis B chronic infections. Because new hepatitis B infections result mainly from perinatal transmission, preventing mother-to-child transmission is essential to reach by 2030 the goal of hepatitis B elimination set by the World Health Organi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gonzague Jourdain, Nicole Ngo-Giang-Huong, Woottichai Khamduang
Format: Journal
Published: 2019
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Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85067383642&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/65822
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
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Summary:© 2019 Jourdain et al. There is currently no cure for hepatitis B chronic infections. Because new hepatitis B infections result mainly from perinatal transmission, preventing mother-to-child transmission is essential to reach by 2030 the goal of hepatitis B elimination set by the World Health Organization. The universal administration of hepatitis B vaccine to all infants, regardless of maternal status, starting with the birth dose, is the cornerstone of the strategy for elimination. Additional interventions, such as hepatitis B immune globulin administered to newborns and antiviral prophylaxis administered to hepatitis B infected pregnant women, may contribute to reaching the goal earlier. Hepatitis B immune globulin may remain out for reach of many pregnant women in low-and middle-income countries due to cost and logistic issues, but antivirals are cheap and do not require a cold chain for distribution. However, it has been observed that some viruses harbor mutations associated with escape from vaccine-elicited antibodies following immunization or administration of hepatitis B immune globulin. Also, resistance associated mutations have been described for several drugs used for treatment of hepatitis B infected patients as well as for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Whether these mutations have the potential to compromise the prevention of mother-to-child transmission or future treatment of the mother is a question of importance. We propose a review of important recent studies assessing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and provides detailed information on the mutations possibly relevant in this setting.