OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) drugs for preventing vertical transmission of HBV and the safety of these drugs when given as treatment during pregnancy (to women) or insemination (to men).

METHODSCases of women and men who had taken anti-HBV drug therapy during pregnancy or insemination, respectively, were retrospectively selected for study from among 18 hospitals and 33 specialists in the Guangdong Province. Demographic, HBV infection and treatment data was collected for puerperal men or women and their newborns from the medical records.

RESULTSA total of 122 cases with detailed follow-up data were included in the study and including 74 women who were administered lamivudine (LAM) more than telbivudine (LdT) more than adefovir (ADV)more than entecavir (ETV) (hierarchy ranking by number of cases) and 48 men who were administered LAM more than ADV more than LdT more than ETV.None of the 122 newborns related to these cases showed HBV infection at 7 months of follow-up.None of the 74 puerperal women showed complications related to reproduction.There was one ease of a newborn being underweight at birth (2.1 kg), for which the mother had taken LdT during pregnancy. There was also one case of a newborn with a harelip and one case of a newborn with an inguinal hernia, for which both of the fathers had taken ADV during the time of insemination.

CONCLUSIONThis retrospective investigation carried out in Guangdong Province indicated that not only are anti-HBV drugs efficacious for blocking vertical transmission of HBV but also are safe for both mothers and infants when taken by fathers or mothers during the reproduction phases of insemination and pregnancy.