Mother‐to‐child transmission of hepatitis B: What more needs to be done to eliminate it around the world?

Shevanthi Nayagam (1) , Yusuke Shimakawa (2) , Maud Lemoine (1)

1 Imperial College London
2 Epidémiologie des Maladies Emergentes - Emerging Diseases Epidemiology

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a key component of the hepatitis B burden worldwide. Despite its efficacy to prevent HBV transmission, infant vaccination is not enough to control HBV MTCT. Additional efforts are urgently needed to evaluate and scale-up preventive strategies especially in endemic countries, which are most affected. This review highlights the efficacy and barriers of the currently validated measures for the prevention of HBV MTCT and proposes alternatives adapted to resource-limited settings to eventually achieve HBV elimination worldwide.

Keywords: HBV; elimination; mother-to-child transmission; prevention; vaccine

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Shevanthi Nayagam, Yusuke Shimakawa, Maud Lemoine. Mother‐to‐child transmission of hepatitis B: What more needs to be done to eliminate it around the world?. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 2019, 27 (4), pp.342-349. ⟨10.1111/jvh.13231⟩. ⟨pasteur-02875220⟩