How to prevent hepatitis B for children when parents are infected?

My wife and I are both infected with acute hepatitis B virus, and my wife is 4 months pregnant. What vaccinations do we need to give birth to a healthy child without infection? (Huyen Nhi, 26 years old, Thanh Hoa )

Reply:

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, 30-40% of children will contract hepatitis B when the mother is infected with the virus during pregnancy. The risk of transmission from mother to child during the active virus stage (HBeAg positive) is about 85-90%.

The earlier the hepatitis B infection, the higher the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In children, more than 90% of patients become chronic, while in adults it is less than 5%.

In your family’s case, you can prevent infection to your baby in 4 steps. First, pregnant women should be examined, tested, monitored and take short-term medication in the last 3 months. This helps reduce the amount of virus in the blood, reducing the possibility of transmission during labor and delivery.

Newborns are screened before receiving the hepatitis B vaccine. Photo: Moc Thao

Next, the baby needs to be injected with serum and vaccine after birth. Serum is most effective when injected within the first 6 hours, vaccine is most effective in the first 24 hours. The injection can prevent 85-90% of cases of virus transmission from mother to child, decreasing day by day and is not effective if injected after 7 days. After that, the family continues to give the child enough doses and on schedule from 6 weeks of age and up.

Finally, parents should monitor and test their child's serology at 9-12 months of age or 1-2 months after completing the vaccination regimen in case of late vaccination. This is to assess the health status and to know the level of antibodies the body has against the disease.

Currently, the VNVC Vaccination System has a full range of hepatitis B vaccines, including: 6 in 1 Infanrix Hexa (Belgium)/ Hexaxim (France) to prevent whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and diseases caused by HIB; Heberbiovac (Cuba), Gene-HBvax (Vietnam), Twinrix (Belgium) to prevent hepatitis A.

Dr. Bui Thanh Phong
Medical Management, VNVC Vaccination System

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