WHO releases new guidelines on preventing, diagnosing and treating Hepatitis B

The guidelines also focus on enhancing HBV diagnostics through point-of-care viral load testing, addressing diagnosis of Delta coinfection – a significant cause of HBV-related morbidity and mortality – using testing protocols and approaches to delivering high-quality HBV services.

HBV infection is a significant public health problem and cause of chronic liver disease, the WHO said.

Most of the global burden of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is due to mother-to-child transmission at or shortly after birth. 

“Considerable progress has been made towards eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HBV through universal infant HBV immunisation, including the timely hepatitis B birth dose. However, hepatitis B birth-dose coverage is only 45% globally, with less than 20% coverage in the WHO African Region,” it said.

“For people with CHB infection, antiviral treatment is highly effective. It can improve survival and reduce progression of liver disease and the development of liver cancer. However, major testing and treatment gaps remain,” it added.

Dr Jayadevan said many new Hepatitis B infections occur at birth when the virus passes from an infected mother to the baby. 

“Unfortunately, if this is not recognised and addressed, the child has a 90% chance of going on to develop chronic Hepatitis B.”

In contrast, unvaccinated adults infected with the hepatitis B virus can clear the virus spontaneously in over 90% of cases – even without medications.

“The new guidelines propose aggressive treatment of hepatitis B positive mothers with antiviral medication from the second trimester onward to reduce the risk of transmission to the child. In addition, immediate newborn vaccination within 24 hours is essential. By bringing more eligible people under this umbrella, we will be able to reduce the number of people with chronic hepatitis B in the future,” he said.

For those who are not infected at birth, it is preventable by a 3 part vaccination series. 

The Indian government introduced hepatitis B vaccination into its Universal Immunization Program (UIP) in 2002. 

“This single measure has prevented numerous infections already and complications resulting from it,” Dr Jayadevan added.