Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention: Eliminating Disease and Disparity.

Abstract

* Abbreviations: HBsAg — : hepatitis B surface antigen HBV — : hepatitis B virus PEP — : postexposure prophylaxis PHBPP — : Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program PVST — : postvaccination serological testing The role of the United States in global efforts to eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection cannot be overstated when HBV together with hepatitis C virus infection accounts for 96% of the 1.34 million viral hepatitis deaths annually.1 Most HBV infections occur perinatally and in early childhood and thus are preventable by early and widespread HBV vaccination.1,2 In this month’s issue of Pediatrics , Koneru et al3 describe programmatic outcomes among 103 825 infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)–positive women, case managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program (PHBPP). Starting in 1990, PHBPP has been instrumental in identifying and tracking infants exposed to HBV. Among the estimated number of infants born to HBsAg-positive women, PHBPP has increasingly succeeded in identifying exposed infants, with identified infant rates rising from 42.1% in 1994 to 52.6% in 2017.3,4 From 2014 to 2017, the infant hepatitis B postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) rose from 94.7% to 97%, vaccine completion from 83.1% to 84.7%, and postvaccination serological testing (PVST) significantly increased from 58.8% to 66.8%. … Address correspondence to Esther K. Chung, MD, MPH, 6200 NE 74th St, Box 354920, Seattle, WA 98115. E-mail: ekc16{at}uw.edu