Contents:
- Medical Video: Hepatitis B Information for Pregnant Women
- What is hepatitis B?
- What effect does hepatitis have on babies if the mother is infected while pregnant?
- How to prevent transmission of hepatitis in infants
- 1. Routinely check your health during pregnancy
- 2. Your baby's vaccine
Medical Video: Hepatitis B Information for Pregnant Women
The total number of people with hepatitis B in Indonesia in 2007 reached 13 million. This figure makes Indonesia ranked second after Myanmar as the country with the highest hepatitis cases in Southeast Asia, citing data published by the Indonesian Ministry of Health in 2012. Pregnant women infected with HBV can transmit the virus to their babies during labor. How do you prevent hepatitis transmission in newborns, if you have hepatitis during pregnancy?
What is hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a contagious liver infection caused by the HBV virus. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is transmitted from one person to another through blood, semen, or other body fluids contaminated with the virus.A positive diagnosis of hepatitis B means you may carry the HBV virus in your body for the rest of your life, which can cause serious liver problems.
In some cases, there are no symptoms seen in patients with Hepatitis B infection, even they can not know that they suffer from the disease. Whereas in other cases, patients experience common flu-like symptoms, accompanied by yellowing of their skin and eyes. The only way to detect Hepatitis B infection is to undergo a blood test.
What effect does hepatitis have on babies if the mother is infected while pregnant?
Infants in the womb are generally not affected by the mother's hepatitis virus during pregnancy. However,Your baby can be infected at birth, if the mother has a positive virus. Usually, this disease is passed on to children exposed to maternal blood and vaginal fluid during labor. This can occur in normal labor or caesarean section.
Hepatitis B virus infection can have a severe impact on the baby. There may be a certain increase in the risk of childbirth, such as premature babies, low birth weight babies (LBW), or infant anatomic and functional abnormalities (especially in chronic hepatitis B infections). That could threaten their lives.
If the child is infected with the hepatitis B virus during infancy and is not vaccinated as soon as possible, most of the cases will continue to be chronic. Chronic hepatitis is what can have a negative impact on children's health in the future, which is in the form of liver damage (cirrhosis) and sometimes liver cancer (especially if accompanied by hepatitis C virus infection). He can also transmit the infection to family members and other people in the future.
How to prevent transmission of hepatitis in infants
1. Routinely check your health during pregnancy
If you are diagnosed with hepatitis during pregnancy, consult your liver specialist or obstetrician. Doctors usually advise you to take blood tests to detect the presence of hepatitis viruses in the body, and whether the disease is acute or chronic. Your doctor may also want to take liver tissue samples to be examined (biopsy) to determine if you have liver damage.
Blood tests can help doctors start treatment with antiviral drugs or recommend lifestyle changes that can slow the process of liver damage.Antiviral drugs are prescribed to take during your pregnancy if needed. These drugs can reduce the virus in the body and risk infection of your baby at birth.
This is recommended because HBV infection often begins to damage the liver before causing signs and symptoms.
2. Your baby's vaccine
All newborns must immediately receive the first immunization against the hepatitis B virus in the delivery room. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all babies receive a vaccine, regardless of condition. If the baby is born to a mother who is positive for hepatitis, HBIG immunoglobulin will also be given in the first 12 hours of birth as an additional "ammunition" to prevent hepatitis in infants.
If it cannot be given at that time, the vaccine must be given within 2 months after birth. The remaining doses are given in the next 6-18 months. Infants given the vaccine and HBIG have more than 90% chance of being protected from hepatitis B infection for the rest of their lives.
If your newborn does not receive the HBIG dose in the first 12 hours after his birth, you must ensure that he will receive it at the age of one month. The third dose of vaccine must be received by your baby at the age of six months to ensure complete protection. He will also be offered a booster dose with pre-school vaccinations at around the age of 3 years and 4 months. All three HBV injections are needed for lifelong protection.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
