Hepatitis B in infants: What you need to know

The article was professionally consulted with Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Thi My Linh - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.

Hepatitis is a disease that can affect people of all ages and genders, in which hepatitis B is the most dangerous. Children and adults can both be infected with hepatitis B virus, especially babies with hepatitis B will have many serious consequences. So how to prevent hepatitis in babies? Should hepatitis B be given to infants?

In Vietnam, according to statistics, about 10 - 13% of pregnant women are infected with hepatitis B virus. This is a very large percentage. The transmission of hepatitis B virus from mother to baby during pregnancy is very dangerous. It is this transmission that leads to neonatal hepatitis.
The level of danger varies according to the time of pregnancy of the mother. If the mother is infected with hepatitis B in the early stages of pregnancy (the first 3 months), the mother-to-child transmission rate is about 1%; in the second trimester of pregnancy up to 10%; especially if in the last 3 months from 60 - 70%.
To assess the progression of the hepatitis B virus in an infected person, the usual method is the determination of HBsAg and HBeAg.
It is statistically shown that, when a pregnant mother's blood test in the last 3 months shows both HBsAg and HBeAg positive, the mother-to-child transmission rate is up to 90 - 100%. However, if the test only shows HBsAg positive, while HBeAg is negative, the rate of mother passing newborn hepatitis to her baby is much lower (about 20%).

Neonatal hepatitis caused by mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus is a difficult problem in the treatment of disease. Acute neonatal hepatitis often has no typical clinical symptoms, but most of the symptoms are not obvious such as: jaundice, yellow urine, poor feeding. Blood tests will show liver enzymes and blood bilirubin levels are also very high.
According to statistics, up to 80-90% of babies born infected with hepatitis B virus during the first year of life and 30-50% of children infected with hepatitis B virus before 6 years old will have chronic hepatitis later. 100% of liver cancers in children are caused by hepatitis B.

When a child is born with suspected hepatitis B, it is necessary to take the child to a medical facility that is qualified for testing. After examining and determining that the child has neonatal hepatitis B, it is necessary to follow the doctor's instructions and when the jaundice improves or clears up, the child should be examined monthly for about 6 months; Should hepatitis B be given to infants and when? For babies who do not have neonatal hepatitis after birth, they should receive the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. The child must receive the 2nd dose 1 month after the first dose, and the 3rd dose when the child is 2 months old; For women who have not been infected with the hepatitis B virus by blood tests, they should be vaccinated immediately after the test. For women who are carriers of hepatitis B virus who want to become pregnant, it is necessary to consult a specialist; For women who have not been vaccinated against hepatitis B during pregnancy, they need to consult a specialist doctor to know how to handle it, especially in the case of pregnant mothers. have hepatitis B in the 3rd month of pregnancy onwards; For couples who have not both been infected with the hepatitis B virus, vaccination is necessary to be safe during pregnancy. If one of the two people is infected with hepatitis B virus, the other person also urgently needs to be vaccinated. Hepatitis B in infants can have serious consequences for children later in life. Therefore, it is best for parents to check for hepatitis B before planning a pregnancy and decide whether to become pregnant right away, avoiding the case of late detection of hepatitis B when pregnant, the prognosis for the child. very unpredictable.