External validation of FibroIndex

✍ Scribed by Philippe Halfon; Guillaume Penaranda; Christophe Renou; Marc Bourliere

• Book ID: 102241527
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 60 KB
• Volume: 46
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.21717

✦ Synopsis

We would like to point out an omission in the AASLD Practice Guidelines on Chronic Hepatitis B published in the February 2007 issue of HEPATOLOGY. 1 In the section discussing the counseling and prevention of hepatitis B on pages 508-509 and in the accompanying table (Table 3), when discussing infants born to hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected mothers, the authors neglected to discuss the issue of breast-feeding. This is certainly worth mentioning because some mothers feel breast-feeding to be an integral part of the care they provide to their infants, and mothers prohibited from breast-feeding may feel some sense of inadequacy. As you know, breast-feeding is not prohibited in HBV-infected mothers, as proven by several studies, some of which are listed here. [2][3][4] Furthermore, because infants should routinely receive HBV immune globulin and HBV vaccine, they are almost universally protected against postpartum maternal HBV transmission.

We think an additional 1-2 sentences should be included in the guidelines to address this issue.