Belle Jarvis, S.; Fenton-Lee, T.; Small, S. Introduction of the Hepatitis B Vaccine—Birth Dose: Methods of Improving Rates in a Milieu of Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccines2024, 12, 25.
Belle Jarvis, S.; Fenton-Lee, T.; Small, S. Introduction of the Hepatitis B Vaccine—Birth Dose: Methods of Improving Rates in a Milieu of Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccines 2024, 12, 25.
Belle Jarvis, S.; Fenton-Lee, T.; Small, S. Introduction of the Hepatitis B Vaccine—Birth Dose: Methods of Improving Rates in a Milieu of Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccines2024, 12, 25.
Belle Jarvis, S.; Fenton-Lee, T.; Small, S. Introduction of the Hepatitis B Vaccine—Birth Dose: Methods of Improving Rates in a Milieu of Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccines 2024, 12, 25.
Abstract
The Hepatitis B virus, chronically infects over 240 million persons worldwide. The Hepatitis B vaccine is 90% effective in preventing perinatal transmission if the first dose is given within the first 24 hours of life followed by a minimum of 2 subsequent doses. In October 2021, Antigua and Barbuda, through it’s only public hospital - the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre, instituted a hospital based Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose policy. Timely birth dose coverage was 72% and total birth dose coverage 81%. 10.5% of parents refused the hepatitis b – birth dose, of which 76% either felt uncomfortable or preferred to wait. 100% of babies born before arrival received timely vaccine administration, likewise 100% of Hepatitis B exposed babies were vaccinated, with 83% of them receiving the Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin. A maternal Hepatitis B surface antigen result was available for 90.4% of mothers. Barriers to timely birth dose administration included vaccination hesitancy, gaps in healthcare worker knowledge, and the consistent supply of Hepatitis B vaccine. Instituting a quality improvement team, health information system, robust educational efforts, and addressing barriers will make achieving the WHO programmatic targets of eliminating mother to child transmission of hepatitis B by 2030 possible.
Keywords
Antigua and Barbuda; hepatitis B; vaccination coverage; birth dose; elimination
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
