Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus
Authors: Pierre Sellier, Amanda Lopes, Jean-François Bergmann
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2014)

Letters18 November 2014Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B VirusPierre Sellier, MD, PhD, Amanda Lopes, MD, and Jean-François Bergmann, MD, PhDPierre Sellier, MD, PhDFrom Lariboisière Hospital, Paris, France.Search for more papers by this author, Amanda Lopes, MDFrom Lariboisière Hospital, Paris, France.Search for more papers by this author, and Jean-François Bergmann, MD, PhDFrom Lariboisière Hospital, Paris, France.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L14-5025 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:In their observational study, Kubo and colleagues (1) found that the infant infection rate was 0 among the 831 births to mothers with viral loads less than 5 × 107 IU/mL, regardless of e antigen status. They concluded that a negative e antigen status or lower viral load identifies women at low risk for transmission after immunoprophylaxis, who are unlikely to benefit from further interventions. However, this study has several limitations.First, viral load was (almost systematically) tested only between 1 July 2007 and 2010. Of the mothers who gave birth to a total of 1185 infants, 1100 (93%) ...References1. Kubo A, Shlager L, Marks AR, Lakritz D, Beaumont C, Gabellini K, et al. Prevention of vertical transmission of hepatitis B: an observational study. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:828-35. [PMID: 24862434] doi:10.7326/M13-2529 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Akl EA, Briel M, You JJ, Sun X, Johnston BC, Busse JW, et al. Potential impact on estimated treatment effects of information lost to follow-up in randomised controlled trials (LOST-IT): systematic review. BMJ. 2012;344:e2809. [PMID: 22611167] doi:10.1136/bmj.e2809 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Pan CQ, Duan ZP, Bhamidimarri KR, Zou HB, Liang XF, Li J, et al. An algorithm for risk assessment and intervention of mother to child transmission of hepatitis B virus. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012;10:452-9. [PMID: 22079509] doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2011.10.041 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Yuan J, Lin J, Xu A, Li H, Hu B, Chen J, et al. Antepartum immunoprophylaxis of three doses of hepatitis B immunoglobulin is not effective: a single-centre randomized study. J Viral Hepat. 2006;13:597-604. [PMID: 16907846] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Sellier P, Maylin S, Amarsy R, Mazeron MC, Larrouy L, Haïm-Boukobza S, et al. Untreated highly viraemic pregnant women from Asia or sub-Saharan Africa often transmit hepatitis B virus despite serovaccination to newborns. Liver Int. 2014. [PMID: 24698736] doi:10.1111/liv.12561 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Pierre Sellier, MD, PhD; Amanda Lopes, MD; Jean-François Bergmann, MD, PhDAffiliations: From Lariboisière Hospital, Paris, France.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L14-0379. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPrevention of Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B Ai Kubo , Lyle Shlager , Amy R. Marks , Dena Lakritz , Colette Beaumont , Kim Gabellini , and Douglas A. Corley Metrics 18 November 2014Volume 161, Issue 10Page: 762-763KeywordsAntigensBirthDisclosureHepatitis B surface antigenHepatitis B virusInfantsPediatric infectionsPregnancyViral loadViral transmission and infection ePublished: 18 November 2014 Issue Published: 18 November 2014 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2014 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...