Antiviral prophylaxis cost-effective to prevent perinatal HBV transmission
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The use of an antiviral prophylaxis strategy in pregnant women with high hepatitis B virus infection viral load was more cost-effective for reducing the number of perinatal transmissions vs. current and universal vaccination strategies, according to a new study.
“An increase in immigrants and refugees from HBV-endemic countries accounts for a relatively stable number of [hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)]-positive pregnant women nationally identified during the past several decades. ... An antiviral prophylaxis strategy in which pregnant women with high HBV DNA load are identified and receive antiviral prophylaxis is likely to be cost-effective, even cost-saving compared to the current strategy in an era of highly effective antiviral treatment,” Lin Fan, PhD, from the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, and colleagues wrote.
Fan and colleagues used a decision tree and Markov model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of three strategies for the prevention of perinatal HBV transmission. In the universal HepB strategy, all infants received the first dose of the HBV vaccination series before hospital discharge and completed the series over time, no pregnant woman was screened for HBsAg or other HBV markers and no infants received hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG). For the current strategy, all pregnant women received prenatal screening for HBsAg and all infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers received HepB and HBIG within 12 hours of birth, followed by completion of the vaccination series. In a third strategy, all pregnant women receiving prenatal screening for HBsAg and all pregnant women with high HBV DNA viral load underwent antiviral prophylaxis for 4 months, beginning in the last trimester and up to 1 month after birth.
The researchers estimated the number of infants with perinatal HBV and their lifetime complications under each strategy. The Markov model was used to measure the lifetime costs and effects associated with chronic HBV for infants with perinatal HBV and were measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).
Results showed that the current strategy prevented 1,006 chronic HBV infections and saved 13,600 QALYs compared with the universal HepB strategy (ICER: $6,957 per QALY saved). The antiviral prophylaxis strategy also was more cost-effective compared with the universal HepB strategy, with an ICER of $6,376 per QALY saved. Antiviral prophylaxis prevented an additional 489 chronic infections and saved 800 QALYs and $2.8 million compared with the current strategy, suggesting it was the most cost-effective of the three strategies.
“The current strategy was dominated by the antiviral prophylaxis strategy because the antiviral prophylaxis strategy accumulated more QALYs and cost less than the current strategy,” the researchers wrote.
When the current strategy was compared with the universal HepB strategy, researchers found that as the prevalence of HBsAg decreased, the current strategy became less cost-effective. At a 0.2% HBsAg prevalence, the current strategy had an ICER of $15,552 per QALY saved compared with the universal HepB strategy. At a 7% prevalence, the current strategy had an ICER of $2,886 per QALY saved compared with the universal HepB strategy.
The researchers said the antiviral prophylaxis strategy accumulated more QALYs and cost less than the current strategy. However, when the perinatal transmission rate for the current strategy decreased to 1%, the ICER of the antiviral prophylaxis strategy increased to $269,796 per QALY saved. When the reduction of perinatal transmission from antiviral prophylaxis decreased to 20%, the ICER of that strategy increased to $97,749 per QALY saved. When 10% of pregnant women with high HBV DNA viral load received antiviral prophylaxis, the ICER of the antiviral prophylaxis strategy increased to $68,509 per QALY saved.
“An important determinant of cost-effectiveness of the antiviral prophylaxis strategy is the proportion of women with high HBV DNA viral load who receive prophylaxis,” the researchers wrote. “The smaller the proportion of women who receive prophylaxis, the less cost-effective the strategy becomes, emphasizing the importance of a policy that encourages antiviral prophylaxis among pregnant women with high HBV DNA load.” – by Melinda Stevens
- Reference:
- Fan L, et al. Hepatology. 2016;doi:10.1002/hep.28310.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.