Antiviral strategies for hepatitis B combined pregnancy

  China is a country with a high incidence of hepatitis B. According to statistics, there are about 93 million people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, including about 20 million cases of chronic hepatitis B. For ordinary hepatitis B patients, the application of interferon or oral antiviral drugs is an easy task. However, for patients who are pregnant, it is important to be careful about when to use the medication. What is the safest medication to use? What kind of medication will not affect the baby? Is it necessary to take hepatitis B immunoglobulin? How can I prevent transmission to my child?  The liver is an important organ that provides energy for the body. During pregnancy, the energy needs of the mother and the fetus increase greatly, thus increasing the burden on the liver, resulting in active viral replication and a continuous rise in transaminases in patients with chronic hepatitis B whose condition is relatively stable. Therefore, for women of childbearing age who are eligible for antiviral treatment but have not undergone antiviral therapy, they should try to undergo effective antiviral treatment before pregnancy, preferably 6 months before conception, in order to prevent aggravation of the disease and at the same time be able to reduce the chance of mother-to-child transmission. If the transaminases are still mildly elevated during pregnancy after antiviral treatment before pregnancy, close observation or hepatoprotective symptomatic treatment can be given, and then antiviral treatment can be administered after delivery. In more severe cases, lamivudine antiviral therapy may also be considered.  In case of unintended pregnancy during antiviral therapy, it is better to terminate the pregnancy to prevent the drug from affecting the fetus, especially for those who apply interferon antiviral, the pregnancy must be terminated; if lamivudine antiviral therapy is used, the continuation of lamivudine antiviral therapy can be considered. In contrast, patients on antiviral therapy with entecavir and adefovir may be considered to switch to lamivudine to continue antiviral therapy.  Hepatitis B is a blood-borne disease, and mother-to-child transmission is one of the most important transmission routes. Mother-to-child transmission occurs mainly in the perinatal period, mostly through contact with the blood and body fluids of hepatitis B virus-positive mothers during delivery. The health of the child is the greatest wish of the parents, and it is crucial to prevent the child from contracting hepatitis B. Vaccination against hepatitis B is the most effective way to prevent hepatitis B virus infection. If the mother is a hepatitis B patient, whether she has normal or abnormal transaminases, she should receive hepatitis B immunoglobulin as soon as possible after birth, along with hepatitis B vaccination at different sites, and then receive the second and third doses of hepatitis B vaccine when the child is 1 month and 6 months old, respectively, to significantly increase the effectiveness of interrupting mother-to-child transmission. The child can be breastfed by the mother after receiving the H BIG and hepatitis B vaccine within 12 hours of birth.  In general, most of the above protocols can interrupt mother-to-child transmission, but there are still a few that cannot. Clinically, it has been found that about 90% of children with failed MTCT have mothers who are “major triple positive”, meaning that the mother has an active viral replication and a high viral count. It has been found that the level of hepatitis B virus is one of the key factors in mother-to-child transmission. Effective antiviral therapy can significantly reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus. Therefore, it is recommended that pregnant women with high hepatitis B virus count may be blocked from mother-to-child transmission with lamivudine or telbivudine at 28 to 34 weeks of gestation.