Early Tenofovir Treatment and Vaccination Effective in Preventing Hepatitis B Transmission During Pregnancy: JAMA
China: A recent randomized clinical trial published in JAMA investigated the effectiveness of Tenofovir (TDF) in preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) during pregnancy. It found that in pregnant women with high HBV viremia, starting TDF treatment at 16 weeks of gestation, along with infant HBV vaccination, was as effective as the standard approach, which involves starting TDF at 28 weeks combined with hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) and infant HBV vaccination.
"These findings support initiating TDF treatment at 16 weeks of gestation, along with administering the HBV vaccine to infants, as an effective strategy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HBV, particularly in regions where HBIG is unavailable," the researchers wrote.
The standard approach to preventing mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus in highly viremic mothers includes maternal antiviral prophylaxis starting at week 28 of gestation, combined with an HBV vaccine series and HBIG for newborns. However, in resource-limited areas where HBIG is unavailable, Calvin Q. Pan, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China, and colleagues sought to determine if initiating tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) at gestational week 16, along with HBV vaccinations for infants, is as effective as the standard care approach in preventing MTCT in mothers with high HBV viremia.
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