Breakthrough in preventing hepatitis B transmission from mothers to children
Hepatitis B transmission from mothers to babies has been eliminated in England, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The WHO elimination target is that less than 2 per cent of babies born to mothers with hepatitis B go on to develop the infection.
And data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows the figure for England currently stands at 0.1 per cent.
The UKHSA said progress had been made in tackling the viral infection, which can cause liver damage, cancer and death if left untreated.
A six-in-one vaccine is offered to all babies on the NHS when they are eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age.
The UKHSA said uptake of the jab remained high, but called for more adults at higher risk of hepatitis B to come forward for a jab.
An estimated 206,000 people are living with chronic hepatitis B infection in England.
Most of the cases are among migrants who have acquired the infection overseas before coming to the UK.
Communities at higher risk of getting the infection in the UK include people who inject drugs, gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men, sex workers and people in prisons or immigration detention centres.
One of the most common routes of infection globally is from women to their babies during birth.
Since the late 1990s, all pregnant women in England have been offered an antenatal blood test for hep B.
Around 2,000 women every year test positive for hep B in England and their babies are offered the hep B vaccine from birth.
Dr Sema Mandal, deputy director for blood-borne viruses at the UKHSA, said many people were unaware they have hep B – or another type of hepatitis, hep C – “because the viruses can be symptomless”.
Almost 90 per cent of hep C cases in the UK occur in people who inject drugs or have injected them in the past.
She said: “We continue to urge all those who have ever injected drugs, gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men, sex workers and people who have immigrated to the UK from countries where hepatitis B or C is common to come forward for free testing, treatment or hepatitis B vaccination.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “We are paving the way for the elimination of hepatitis B and C, with England set to be one of the first countries in the world to wipe out these viruses.”
