Maputo study on cutting mother to child transmission of hepatitis B
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Loading... - Chuki Odhiambo
- 21 Jan 2022
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A study carried out in Maputo has shown that antenatal departments can cut the transmission of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) from mother to child through integrating vaccination at birth into standard procedures.
Published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, the study, carried out by Mozambique’s Ministry of Health and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF – Doctors without Borders) points out that vaccination at birth has been recommended by WHO since 2004 to protect infants from vertical and horizontal transmission. However, it laments that global coverage remains low, especially in low-resource settings.
It also notes that WHO recommends simultaneous measures to stop the transmission from mother to child of hepatitis B, HIV, and syphilis (known as the triple elimination strategy) and stresses that “an integrated approach to these three preventable diseases would be an efficient use of resources and would improve the impact in existing antenatal care”.
According to the study, there is a large variation in data on the prevalence of hepatitis B in Mozambique, with research showing that it has been found in 4.5 per cent of women donating blood and in 12.2 per cent of young adults infected with HIV. This compares with a prevalence rate of 15.2 per cent in adult women living with HIV and two per cent for syphilis.
Since 2017, the health ministry has had a policy of implementing interventions against the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child but has not yet added action against hepatitis B.
This was the year when the health ministry joined with MSF in piloting interventions to reduce the prevalence of HBV in new-borns. Between November 2017 and September 2019, it added hepatitis B into the existing screening programme for HIV and syphilis for pregnant women at their first antenatal consultation at the Chamanculo General Hospital in Maputo.
Over seven thousand women took part in the study in the antenatal care and maternity unit and they were followed until nine months after delivery. After screening, it was found that 217 babies were exposed to the virus, and 181 of these received a dose of the vaccine against hepatitis B at birth. At the nine month follow up it was found that only one of the 134 infants tested had the virus.
The conclusion from the study is that nurse-led interventions can be integrated into existing antenatal care departments. As a result, the pilot programme is expected to inform national programmes and policies and will support the adoption of the triple elimination strategy by Mozambique and other low-income countries. Read More…
