Vaccination in prevention mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of
hepatitis B has been recommended since plasma-derived
hepatitis B vaccines became available in China in 1986; however, less study evaluated practice effectiveness of PMTCT systematically. We conducted a prospective survey to evaluate the effectiveness of PMTCT practices in 3 provinces of southern China. We selected prefectures with low timely birth dose coverage in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hunan provinces. Infants born to
HBsAg positive mothers were evaluated at 7-12 months of age. We tested hepatitis B virus (HBV)
surface antigen (
HBsAg) and HBV
e antigen (
HBeAg) of mothers and tested
HBsAg of infants born to
HBsAg positive mothers using
Enzyme-linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) at provincial CDC laboratories. We used logistic regression analysis to analyze the risk factors for HBV
infection. Among 3,094 infants born to
HBsAg positive mothers, 172 were positive for
HBsAg (5.6%).
HBeAg status of pregnant women, timely birth dose (TBD) of
hepatitis B vaccine were major predictors for HBV
infection of infants. PMTCT practices greatly reduced the prevalence of
HBsAg among infants born to
HBsAg positive mothers China. However, the effectiveness of strategies used in PMTCT varied.
HBsAg screening for pregnant women, monitoring of infants born to
HBsAg positive mother should be enhanced to evaluate the effectiveness of program.