Screening for hepatitis B antibodies and vaccinating pregnant women without immunity appears to be a cost-effective health measure, according to a recent analysis published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Malavika Prabhu, MD, of the division of maternal-fetal medicine and department of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, said in an interview that the impetus to conduct the study came from the idea that hepatitis B is a concern throughout a woman's life, but not necessarily during pregnancy. While vaccination is not routine during pregnancy, guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists state that at-risk women should be screened and vaccinated for hepatitis B during pregnancy.
"What we thought made more sense just from thinking about other principles of prenatal care was that it would make sense for us to screen, see who's susceptible, counsel them on the risk of hepatitis B, and then vaccinate them in the course of the pregnancy," Prabhu said.
After writing a commentaryarguing in favor of universal screening and vaccination, she and her colleagues noted it was still unclear whether that approach was cost effective, she said. "Health care costs in this country are so expensive at baseline that, as we continue to add more things to health care, we have to make sure that it's value added."
