Antibiotics & Infections

PHE NE&NC Pathway for Babies born to Hepatitis B positive Mothers

 

Treatment and care pathway for babies born to mothers who are Hepatitis B positive in the North East and North Cumbria

Infants who contract hepatitis B from their mother during pregnancy or childbirth have a poor prognosis for developing chronic liver disease from an early age. Targeted immunization and testing of these infants may provide them with a 95% chance of being protected from the disease.

This requires six doses of a Hepatitis B containing vaccine in infancy and a dry blood spot (DBS) screening test done at 12 months.

It is vitally important infants born to mothers with positive hepatitis B serology receive a complete course of vaccinations and testing in accordance with DH Green Book (2009) guidelines. 

This pathway updates the previous regional North East protocol (2012) and should be read and used only in conjunction with the updated national hepatitis B antenatal screening and selective neonatal immunization pathway guidance 2021  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hepatitis-b-antenatal-screening-and-selective-neonatal-immunisation-pathway/guidance-on-the-hepatitis-b-antenatal-screening-and-selective-neonatal-immunisation-pathway–2#app3