Hepatitis B in pregnancy in England: pregnancy and neonatal outcomes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Hepatitis B in pregnancy in England: pregnancy and neonatal outcomes
IRAS ID
346326
Contact name
Claire Thorne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health priority with at least 1.5 million new HBV infections annually. In England, HBV screening is recommended for all pregnant women, with coverage at 99.8%. There are around 2000 pregnancies in women living with HBV annually, with the majority being migrants from high HBV prevalence settings in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Around 8-12% of these women have markers of higher infectivity for vertical (mother-to-infant) transmission, most of whom receive antiviral treatment in pregnancy, for their own health and/or to reduce vertical transmission risk.
Multiple factors may contribute to risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, including maternal age, socioeconomic status, parity, region of origin, and comorbidities as well as infections. Understanding is currently incomplete regarding risk of pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, and adverse and sub-optimal birth outcomes such as preterm delivery, small-for-gestational age infants and stillbirth, in the context of maternal HBV infection.
This PhD project will investigate the evolving clinical epidemiology of HBV infection in pregnancy in England and associated pregnancy, birth and neonatal outcomes, including identification of risk factors for adverse outcomes and the potential role of inequalities.
National surveillance of HBV in pregnancy in England has been conducted by the Integrated Screening Outcomes Surveillance Service for the Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening Programme (IDPS) as part of NHS England’s Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) Programme since April 2021. This project will utilise a pseudonymised dataset on pregnant women living with chronic HBV and their newborns included in this national surveillance. This population-based data will be analysed using a range of methods including multivariable modelling.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
25/WS/0070
Date of REC Opinion
9 May 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion