Via practica 3/2016

Therapy of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection before planned pregnancy, during pregnancy and breastfeeding

The HBV infection of women in productive period of their lives is not frequent problem in the Czech Republic on account of low incidence and prevalence of HBV infection. This number of young infected women can rapidly increase with growth of immigration from countries with higher prevalence of HBV infection, especially from Vietnam, China, Ukraine and Russia. The most important issue is prevention of vertical transmission of HBV from mothers with high HBV viraemia to their children during delivery. Combination of active and passive immunization is sometimes not enough effective in these situations. Tenofovir, lamivudine, or telbivudine administration during the third trimester of pregnancy can decrease the danger of this transmission. Tenofovir is preferred during pregnancy due its high genetic barrier against HBV resistance and large amount of safety data.

Keywords: pregnancy, breastfeeding, hepatitis B, tenofovir