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Minnesota Perinatal Hepatitis B Program and Statistics
We implemented a perinatal hepatitis B prevention program in 1990. Our goal is to identify and treat infants born to hepatitis B-positive people in an effort to prevent perinatally acquired infection. The benefits of this cost-effective strategy are preventing potential long-term health consequences for the child and eliminating a potential source of infection to others in the future.
The program provides case management to infants born to hepatitis B positive people. Of these infants, over 99% received treatment (consisting of vaccine and hepatitis B immune globulin) at birth.
Hepatitis B is transmitted very efficiently from an infected birthing parent to the infant at birth. If infected, up to 90% of babies will develop chronic hepatitis B infection which can lead to liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer and even death. Treatment initiated within 12 hours after birth is up to 94% effective at preventing this serious infection. Prevention efforts depend upon maintaining high treatment rates.
| Year | Number of infants born to hepatitis B-positive people in MN | Number of infants identified as hepatitis B-positive during reporting year |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 443 | 0 |
| 2015 | 409 | 3 |
| 2016 | 428 | 1 |
| 2017 | 413 | 0 |
| 2018 | 375 | 0 |
| 2019 | 388 | 0 |
| 2020 | 345 | 0 |
| 2021 | 327 | 0 |
| 2022 | 318 | 2 |
| 2023 | 333 | 0 |
Disease Control Newsletter (DCN)
Disease Control Newsletter (DCN) is MDH's surveillance information on certain communicable diseases in Minnesota.
- Disease Control Newsletter (DCN)
The DCN archives available on the web include 1997-2022.