Do I need treatment for elevated hepatitis B virus during pregnancy?

  1. Patients with chronic hepatitis B who have fertility requirements should try to apply interferon or nucleoside analogue therapy before conception if treatment is indicated, with a view to completing treatment 6 months before conception. Reliable contraception should be used during treatment. In patients with unintended pregnancy during antiviral therapy, termination of pregnancy is recommended if interferon therapy is administered. If oral nucleoside analogues are used: if pregnancy class B drugs or lamivudine are used, treatment can be continued with adequate communication and weighing of pros and cons; if entecavir or adefovir are used, treatment should be continued with tipifovir or tenofovir with adequate communication and weighing of pros and cons, and termination of pregnancy is not recommended.  For patients with hepatitis B attack during pregnancy, mild elevation of ALT can be closely observed, while those with more severe liver lesions can be treated with tenofovir or tenofovudine antiviral therapy after full communication with the patient and weighing the pros and cons.  High serum HBV DNA load in pregnant patients is one of the high-risk factors for mother-to-child transmission, and standard neonatal immunoprophylaxis for hepatitis B and effective antiviral therapy for the mother can significantly reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HBV. If the HBV DNA load is greater than 2×106 IU/ml in mid- to late pregnancy, tenofovir or lamivudine may be given starting from the 24th to 28th week of gestation after thorough communication with the patient and weighing the pros and cons. It is recommended to discontinue the drug 1~3 months after delivery, and breastfeeding is possible after discontinuation.  Fertility in male patients on antiviral therapy: male patients on interferon therapy should be considered for fertility only 6 months after discontinuation; male patients on nucleoside analogue antiviral therapy, for whom there is no evidence of adverse effects of NAs treatment on sperm, can be considered for fertility with adequate communication with the patient.