Deciding when to start treatment

Thank you for your input Thomas. I was offered treatment last january and I kept putting it off. I was offered Tenofovir because I’m still childbearing age. I started it last night and will have another blood test in 4 weeks to see the effect of it. I hope I made the right decision :sweat_smile:

Sounds good, @dianawhite! Hope it all goes well, please keep the community up to date on how you go!

TT

Hi experts, this is my hepatitis b profile test. I have these questions;
based on this results can I start taking tenofovir.? Because of hbeag.
My lft are ok .
Just worried because Hbeag is positive.
Do you start to take anti virals when you have high viral load or when it’s starts affecting the liver? I’m currently 7 months pregnant.

Dear @anni2,

Thanks for your question and welcome to the forum. Under most guidelines, you would need to have a HBV DNA test to determine if you should start antivirals: for pregnant women, treatment should be started if HBV DNA levels are above 200,000 IU/mL (AASLD guidelines).

Thomas

Can a pregnant woman with high or low virals who’s hbeag positive transmit to baby in the womb or the transmission happens during birth
when vaccines were not given on time?
I don’t want my baby to be positive :face_holding_back_tears:
I want to take all precautions!

Hi @Anni2,

One of the experts will field this question as my knowledge is limited in this area. However, here are a couple of threads that I found on the subject that you could read up on until an expert can respond. I hope this helps.

-Paul

https://www.hepbcommunity.org/t/hepb-transmission-from-mother-to-child-when-low-viral-load/1311/2

https://www.hepbcommunity.org/t/having-children-and-hepatitis-b/166/2

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Dear @Anni2,

Transmission generally does not occur in the womb, but occurs during the birth, which is good because it allows some opportunity for the doctors to treat you and the new-born to prevent infection. There are several interventions that can be used including:

  1. Treating you with antivirals close to the birth, so that you have lower viral load and therefore less risk of transmitting.
  2. Providing the newborn with antibodies against the virus, which would stop the virus from infecting the liver and spreading.
  3. Immediate vaccination of the newborn straight after birth so that they make their own antibodies to fight off any potential transmission.

Some or all of these can be used, depending on your situation. You should discuss this with your doctor/midwife/obstetrician to plan.

There are many Hepatitis B positive mothers on this forum who have successfully prevented infecting their children (see Having children and Hepatitis B).

Hope this helps a bit,
Thomas

Thank you for your time.I really appreciate.

Also ,is it only people with high viral load that ends up having liver issues or pains almost every day?

Currently on anti virals but still having this liver heat and pains .scan and lft says all is normal.
Does anti virals help the liver to heal .
I was infected with this virus just last year but started taking anti virals because of positive hbeag value of 600+ and also fear of transmission to baby.

Dear @Anni2,

The liver issues/pains are a complex interaction between the virus, your liver and your immune system. It isn’t automatically given that if you have high viral load, you have pain.

The antivirals will help your liver recover from any injury caused by the virus. If you are still feeling pain in the area, it may be possible that it is being cause by other issues that you should talk to your doctor about.

Hope this helps,
Thomas