[Medical Q&A] If the mother is infected with hepatitis B virus, how to prevent the baby from being infected?

Author: Hu Fang, deputy chief physician of Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center

Reviewer: Wang Qian, researcher at the Maternal and Child Health Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

If the mother is infected with hepatitis B virus, the following measures can be taken to prevent the baby from being infected.

1. Choose the right time to become pregnant. Before planning pregnancy, women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection should have their liver biochemical indicators, hepatitis B virus load (HBV DNA), liver ultrasound and transient elastography evaluated by an infectious disease or hepatology specialist, and receive individualized treatment based on the doctor's evaluation results. When receiving drug treatment, drugs that do not affect pregnancy should be selected.

2. Pay attention to monitoring the condition during pregnancy Women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection should have their liver function checked regularly after pregnancy, especially in the early and late stages of pregnancy. HBV DNA should be checked in the second trimester. If the HBV DNA is higher than 2×105IU/ml, antiviral treatment should be given to reduce the viral load, thereby further reducing the risk of the baby being infected with hepatitis B virus.

3. Vaccinate your baby at a regular institution in time after birth. Vaccinating your baby with hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immunoglobulin is the most effective measure to prevent hepatitis B virus infection. All babies born to mothers with hepatitis B should be injected with 100 international units of hepatitis B immunoglobulin within 12 hours after birth (the sooner the better), and the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine should be injected at the same time. The baby should also be vaccinated with a dose of hepatitis B vaccine when he is one month old and six months old.