title: Assessing the impact of a nurse-delivered home dried blood spot service on uptake of testing for household contacts of hepatitis B-infected pregnant women across two London trusts.
abstract: Despite national guidance recommending testing and vaccination of household contacts of hepatitis B-infected pregnant women, provision and uptake of this is sub-optimal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of in-home dried blood spot (DBS) testing to increase testing and vaccination of household contacts of hepatitis B-infected pregnant women as an alternative approach to conventional primary-care follow-up. The study was conducted across two London maternity trusts (North Middlesex and Newham). All hepatitis B surface antigen-positive pregnant women identified through these trusts were eligible for inclusion. The intervention of in-home DBS testing for household contacts was introduced at North Middlesex Trust from November 2010 to December 2011. Data on testing and vaccination uptake from GP records across the two trusts were compared between baseline (2009) and intervention (2010-2011) periods. In-home DBS service increased testing uptake for all ages (P < 0·001) with the biggest impact seen in partners, where testing increased from 30·3% during the baseline period to 96·6% during the intervention period in North Middlesex Trust. Although impact on vaccine uptake was less marked, improvements were observed for adults. The provision of nurse-led home-based DBS may be useful in areas of high prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keel
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flood
authors.affiliation: North East and North Central London Health Protection Team,Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beebeejaun
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shute
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poh
authors.affiliation: North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust,UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ijaz
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.affiliation: Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department,Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance & Control (CIDSC),Public Health England,UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amirthalingam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D059788:Dried Blood Spot Testing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008131:London; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Control; epidemiology; hepatitis B; immunization (vaccination); public health
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