Timing of post-vaccination tests in infants born to mothers with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Halil Haldun Emiroglu; Melike Emiroglu

doi:10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.101619

Timing of post-vaccination tests in infants born to mothers with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

World J Hepatol. 2025 Jan 27;17(1):101619. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.101619.

Authors

Halil Haldun Emiroglu¹, Melike Emiroglu²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine, Konya 42130, Türkiye. haldunemiroglu@gmail.com.
² Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine, Konya 42130, Türkiye.

Abstract

Immunoprophylaxis is routinely recommended for infants born to mothers with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection within the first 12-24 hours. Detection of hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) resulting from hepatitis B immunoglobulin administered at birth may be perceived as a real vaccine response. This makes it difficult to detect HBV infection. For this reason, it is recommended that infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen positive mothers and who received immunoprophylaxis at birth should have HBsAb testing when they are 9-15 months old.

Keywords: Hepatitis B hyperimmune globulin; Hepatitis B vaccine; Hepatitis B virus; Infant; Vaccination.