No 25 - 2024

Reminder letters regarding vaccination of children born to women with chronic hepatitis B will henceforth be sent via the public Danish e-mailing system e-Boks to the children's mothers and their general practitioners.

Children born to women with chronic hepatitis B are currently vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth by so-called post-exposure vaccination, that is, a treatment provided against the hepatitis B virus that the mother may have transmitted to her child. To ensure that the child continues to be protected against hepatitis B infection, it must receive three additional hepatitis B vaccinations. The general practitioner should administer these vaccinations one month after birth, two to three months after birth and one year after birth. Two months after the final vaccine, the child's general practitioner should test the child's hepatitis B status. The vaccinations are free of charge.

Until now, the child's general practitioner has received three reminder letters regarding the follow-up hepatitis B vaccinations, and the mothers have received an information letter in the maternity ward from Statens Serum Institut. Starting now, reminder letters will be sent automatically to the general practitioners via CVR numbers and to the mothers via e-Boks, as soon as the children are born and vaccinated in the maternity ward. If the mother is exempt from digital mail, the letters will be sent as regular mail.

The following letters will be sent:

• Reminder letter to the mother 14 days before the second vaccination (when the child is one month old)
• Reminder letter to the general practitioner 14 days before the second vaccination (when the child is one month old)
• Reminder letter to the mother 14 days before the third vaccination (when the child is two months old)
• Reminder letter to the general practitioner 14 days before the third vaccination (when the child is two months old)
• Reminder letter to the mother 14 days before the fourth vaccination (when the child is 12 months old)
• Reminder letter to the general practitioner 14 days before the fourth vaccination (when the child is 12 months old).

The new procedure will ensure that both parties remain reminded of these important vaccinations while contributing to the digitisation process to reduce the associated workload.

For more information about the vaccination of children born to women with chronic hepatitis B infection, please see the website of Statens Serum Institut.

(M. Wessman, L.H. Holm og L. Hallundbæk, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention)