Effectiveness of prevention of mother-to-child transmission practice in three provinces of Southern China

Abstract

Vaccination in prevention mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of hepatitis B has been recommended since plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccines became available in China in 1986; however, less study evaluated practice effectiveness of PMTCT systematically. We conducted a prospective survey to evaluate the effectiveness of PMTCT practices in 3 provinces of southern China. We selected prefectures with low timely birth dose coverage in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hunan provinces. Infants born to HBsAg positive mothers were evaluated at 7–12 months of age. We tested hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV e antigen (HBeAg) of mothers and tested HBsAg of infants born to HBsAg positive mothers using Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) at provincial CDC laboratories. We used logistic regression analysis to analyze the risk factors for HBV infection. Among 3,094 infants born to HBsAg positive mothers, 172 were positive for HBsAg (5.6%). HBeAg status of pregnant women, timely birth dose (TBD) of hepatitis B vaccine were major predictors for HBV infection of infants. PMTCT practices greatly reduced the prevalence of HBsAg among infants born to HBsAg positive mothers China. However, the effectiveness of strategies used in PMTCT varied. HBsAg screening for pregnant women, monitoring of infants born to HBsAg positive mother should be enhanced to evaluate the effectiveness of program.