Studies on Hepatitis B vaccination in neonates

From 1982-1989, 705 infants born to HBsAg positive mothers entered the Dutch neonatal hepatitis B vaccination program and received passive-active hepatitis B immunization, according to 6 schedules, varying in time of onset vaccination, dose of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBlg) and type and dose of vaccine. 118 (17%) of the mothers were also HBeAg positive. This thesis describes the protective efficacy and long-term immunogenicity of passive-active hepatitis B immunization over a period of 10 years. During follow up, 9 infants became HBsAg carriers; 8, all born to HBeAg positive mothers within the first year and another child, born to an HBeAg negative mother at the age of 5 years. No evidence of emergence of escape hepatitis B mutants was found. Protective Efficacy Rate (PER) of passive-active hepatitis B immunization at 12 months follow up was 92% for the total group with no significant differences between groups starting active immunization at birth or at 3 months; groups receiving one or two doses of HBlg or groups receiving plasma-derived or recombinant vaccine. The PER at month 12 in the group with maternal HBV-DNA levels less than 150 pg/ml was 100% and significantly higher than the 68% for the group with HBV-DNA levels above 150 pg/ml. After 5 years of follow up, the group with active hepatitis B immunization starting at birth had significantly more infants with anti-HBs levels less than 10 IU/L (15%) than the corresponding group starting at 3 months (2%). Geometric Mean Titres of anti-HBs were significantly higher in the group, starting at 3 months of age with plasma vaccine than in the corresponding group receiving recombinant vaccine. This program showed that passive-active hepatitis B vaccination can be highly effective in the prevention of neonatal hepatitis B, except for children born to women with high hepatitis B viraemia. Evaluation of vaccine schedules should take into account risk assessment according to maternal HBV DNA levels. The excellent efficacy of delayed active vaccination allows incorporation of hepatitis B vaccine into the standard infant immunization programs for countries with a passive-active immunization strategy for hepatitis B. For long-term protection, dosage of recombinant vaccine with equal immunogenicity to that of plasma vaccine should be considered

Anti-HBs levels in infants of hepatitis B carrier mothers after delayed active immunization with recombinant vaccine concomitant with DTP-polio vaccine: Is there need for a second dose of HBIg?

The need for an additional dose of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg) was studied by comparing infants receiving 1 ml HBIg at birth followed by hepatitis B immunization, concomitant with DTP-polio vaccine, at 3, 4, 5 and 11 months (schedule E), with infants receiving the same schedule with additional HBIg at 3 months (schedule F). The immune response to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (20 μg) was evaluated in 195 infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers allocated to groups E and F and compared with historic controls who received plasma vaccine (10 μg) according to schedule F. Blood samples were drawn at 0, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12 and 24 months of age. No difference in efficacy between the two schedules was observed; 8 and 6% of infants born to HBeAg-positive HBsAg carrier mothers in groups E and F, respectively, became HBsAg carriers. Passively acquired antibodies at birth remained present for about 5 months in most infants. The seroprotection rates (anti-HBs ⩾ 10 IU l−1) were over 90% at all time points and similar for groups E and F. The titres of anti-HBs attained during the first 6 months were statistically lower (p ⩽ 0.02) for group E than for group F but similar thereafter. Anti-HBs titres in infants receiving the recombinant vaccine were significantly lower than in infants receiving the plasma vaccine (p ⪡ 0.001). Supplemental doses of HBIg in infants receiving a high dose of HBIg (> 200 IU) at birth and the first dose o

EMDR for children with medically related subthreshold PTSD: short-term effects on PTSD, blood-injection-injury phobia, depression and sleep

Background: Paediatric illness, injury and medical procedures are potentially traumatic experiences with a range of possible negative psychosocial consequences. To prevent psychosocial impairment and improve medical adherence, evidence-based psychotherapy should be offered if indicated. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been found to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. The evidence for the use with children is promising. Furthermore, recent studies indicate its effectiveness for the treatment of other psychological symptomatology. However, the effectiveness of EMDR in children with subthreshold PTSD after medically related trauma has not yet been investigated. Objective: Investigating the short-term effectiveness of EMDR on posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression and sleep problems in children with subthreshold PTSD after hospitalization through a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Method: Following baseline screening of 420 children from various Dutch hospitals, 74 children (4–15 years old) with medically related subthreshold PTSD were randomized to EMDR (n = 37) or care-as-usual (CAU; n = 37). Follow-up assessment took place after M = 9.7 weeks. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses were performed to examine the effectiveness of EMDR compared to CAU. Results: Children in both groups improved significantly over time on all outcomes. However, the EMDR group improved significantly more as to child-reported symptoms of blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia and depression, and child-, and parent-reported sleep problems of the child. There was no superior effect of EMDR compared to CAU on subthreshold PTSD symptom reduction. Conclusions: EMDR did not perform better than CAU in reducing PTSD symptoms in a paediatric sample of children with subthreshold PTSD after hospitalization. However, the study results indicate that EMDR might be superior in reducing symptoms of blood-injection-injury phobia, depression and sleep problems

A low proportion of HBeAg among HBsAg-positive pregnant women with known HIV status could suggest low perinatal transmission of HBV in Cameroon

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from HBV-positive mothers to their infants is common and usually occurs when the mother is hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive and/or has a high HBV DNA load. In this study, we determined the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBeAg among pregnant women with known HIV status.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A total of 650 pregnant women with a mean age of 26.2 years including 301 HIV-positives and 349 HIV-negatives were screened for HBsAg (Monolisa AgHBs Plus Biorad, France). Among the HBsAg-positives, HBeAg and anti-HBe were tested (Monolisa Ag HBe Plus Biorad, France). Overall, 51 (7.85%) were positive for HBsAg. The prevalence of HBsAg was not statistically different between HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women [28/301 (9.3%) vs 23/349 (6.59%); p = 0.2]. None of the 45 HBsAg-positive samples was reactive for HBeAg.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study indicates a high prevalence of HBsAg with very low proportion of HBeAg in Cameroonian pregnant women. Since perinatal transmission of HBV is mostly effective when the mother is also HBeAg-positive, our data could suggest that perinatal transmissions play a minor role in HBV prevalence in Cameroon. In line with previous African studies, these findings further suggests that horizontal transmission could be the most common mechanism of HBV infections in Cameroon.</p

Developmental Regulation of Hepatitis B Virus Biosynthesis by Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4α

The host cellular factors that promote persistent viral infections in vivo are, in general, poorly understood. Utilizing the hepatitis B virus (HBV) transgenic mouse model of chronic infection, we demonstrate that the nuclear receptor, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α, NR2A1), is essential for viral biosynthesis in the liver. The dependency of HBV transcription on HNF4α links viral biosynthesis and persistence to a developmentally regulated transcription factor essential for host viability