Lower diagnostic costs needed for HBV peripartum antiviral prophylaxis to be effective

The addition of peripartum antiviral prophylaxis to reduce neonatal hepatitis B virus infection could have “substantial extra health benefits,” although decreased diagnostic costs are needed to make this strategy cost-effective.“WHO’s Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis set a target for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HBV, with the aim to reach a prevalence of less than 0.1% in children younger than 5 years by 2030,” Shevanthi Nayagam, PhD, a clinical fellow in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, and colleaguesRead More